Process for treating a hydrocarbon-containing feed

ABSTRACT

A process for treating a hydrocarbon-containing feed is provided in which a hydrocarbon-containing feed comprising at least 20 wt. % of heavy hydrocarbons is mixed with hydrogen and a catalyst to produce a hydrocarbon-containing product. The catalyst is prepared by mixing a first salt and a second salt in an aqueous mixture under anaerobic conditions at a temperature of from 15° C. to 150° C., where the first salt comprises a cationic component in any non-zero oxidation state selected from the group consisting of Cu, Fe, Ag, Co, Mn, Ru, La, Ce, Pr, Sm, Eu, Yb, Lu, Dy, Ni, Zn, Bi, Sn, Pb, and Sb, and where the second salt comprises an anionic component selected from the group consisting of MoS 4   2− , WS 4   2− , SnS 4   4− , and SbS 4   3 .

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of priority from U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/297,091 file Jan. 21, 2010.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a process for treating ahydrocarbon-containing feedstock.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Increasingly, resources such as heavy crude oils, bitumen, tar sands,shale oils, and hydrocarbons derived from liquefying coal are beingutilized as hydrocarbon sources due to decreasing availability of easilyaccessed light sweet crude oil reservoirs. These resources aredisadvantaged relative to light sweet crude oils, containing significantamounts of heavy hydrocarbon fractions such as residue and asphaltenes,and often containing significant amounts of sulfur, nitrogen, metals,and/or naphthenic acids. The disadvantaged crudes typically require aconsiderable amount of upgrading, for example by cracking and byhydrotreating, in order to obtain more valuable hydrocarbon products.Upgrading by cracking, either thermal cracking, hydrocracking and/orcatalytic cracking, is also effective to partially convert heavyhydrocarbon fractions such as atmospheric or vacuum residues derivedfrom refining a crude oil or hydrocarbons derived from liquefying coalinto lighter, more valuable hydrocarbons.

Numerous processes have been developed to crack and treat disadvantagedcrude oils and heavy hydrocarbon fractions to recover lighterhydrocarbons and to reduce metals, sulfur, nitrogen, and acidity of thehydrocarbon-containing material. For example, a hydrocarbon-containingfeedstock may be cracked and hydrotreated by passing thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock over a catalyst located in a fixed bedcatalyst reactor in the presence of hydrogen at a temperature effectiveto crack heavy hydrocarbons in the feedstock and/or to reduce the sulfurcontent, nitrogen content, metals content, and/or the acidity of thefeedstock. Another commonly used method to crack and/or hydrotreat ahydrocarbon-containing feedstock is to disperse a catalyst in thefeedstock and pass the feedstock and catalyst together with hydrogenthrough a slurry-bed, or fluid-bed, reactor operated at a temperatureeffective to crack heavy hydrocarbons in the feedstock and/or to reducethe sulfur content, nitrogen content, metals content, and/or the acidityof the feedstock. Examples of such slurry-bed or fluid-bed reactorsinclude ebullating-bed reactors, plug-flow reactors, and bubble-columnreactors.

Coke formation, however, is a particular problem in processes forcracking a hydrocarbon-containing feedstock having a relatively largeamount of heavy hydrocarbons such as residue and asphaltenes.Substantial amounts of coke are formed in the current processes forcracking heavy hydrocarbon-containing feedstocks, limiting the yield oflighter molecular weight hydrocarbons that can be recovered anddecreasing the efficiency of the cracking process by limiting the extentof hydrocarbon conversion that can be effected per cracking step in theprocess, for example, by deactivating the catalysts used in the process.

Cracking heavy hydrocarbons involves breaking bonds of the hydrocarbons,particularly carbon-carbon bonds, thereby forming two hydrocarbonradicals for each carbon-carbon bond that is cracked in a hydrocarbonmolecule. Numerous reaction paths are available to the crackedhydrocarbon radicals, the most important being: 1) reaction with ahydrogen donor to form a stable hydrocarbon molecule that is smaller interms of molecular weight than the original hydrocarbon from which itwas derived; and 2) reaction with another hydrocarbon or anotherhydrocarbon radical to form a hydrocarbon molecule larger in terms ofmolecular weight than the cracked hydrocarbon radical—a process calledannealation. The first reaction is desired, it produces hydrocarbons oflower molecular weight than the heavy hydrocarbons contained in thefeedstock—and preferably produces naphtha, distillate, or gas oilhydrocarbons. The second reaction is undesired and leads to theproduction of coke as the reactive hydrocarbon radical combines withanother hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon radical. Furthermore, the secondreaction is autocatalytic since the growing coke particles are morereactive with the cracked hydrocarbon radicals than the hydrocarbonfeedstock. Hydrocarbon-containing feedstocks having a relatively highconcentration of heavy hydrocarbon molecules therein are particularlysusceptible to coking due to the presence of a large quantity of highmolecular weight hydrocarbons in the feedstock with which crackedhydrocarbon radicals may combine to form proto-coke or coke. As aresult, cracking processes of heavy hydrocarbon-containing feedstockshave been limited by coke formation induced by the cracking reactionitself.

Numerous catalysts have been developed for use in processes for crackingdisadvantaged hydrocarbon feedstocks, however, such catalysts have noteliminated problems associated with coking, and catalyst activity may besignificantly reduced over time by accumulation of coke on the catalyst.Catalysts used in fixed catalyst bed reactors typically contain a GroupVIB and/or Group VIII metal supported on a carrier formed of alumina,silica, or alumina-silica. The carrier is generally selected to possessacidic properties that catalytically facilitate cracking by promotingthe formation of radical carbo-cation hydrocarbon species from crackedhydrocarbons. Fixed bed cracking catalysts are also generally porous andhighly adsorptive, where the pores and pore size distribution of thecatalysts are determined by the carrier on which active metals areplaced. The pores and pore size distribution of such catalysts markedlyaffect the activity, selectivity, and the cracking reaction rate. Theactive Group VIB and/or Group VIII metals of the catalyst facilitatehydrogenation of the cracked hydrocarbon radicals. Such catalysts arecommonly sulfided to activate the catalyst, either before contacting thecatalyst with a disadvantaged hydrocarbon feed or in situ with thedisadvantaged hydrocarbon feed.

Processes that utilize fixed bed catalysts to crack a heavyhydrocarbon-containing material suffer significantly from catalyst agingdue to coke deposition on the catalyst over time. As noted above, cokeand proto-coke formation occurs in cracking a hydrocarbon-containingmaterial, and is particularly problematic when thehydrocarbon-containing material is a heavy hydrocarbon-containingmaterial, for example, containing at least 20 wt. % pitch, residue, orasphaltenes. The coke that is formed in the cracking process deposits onthe catalyst progressively over time, plugging the catalyst pores andcovering the surface of the catalyst. The coked catalyst loses itscatalytic activity and, ultimately, must be replaced. Furthermore, thecracking process must be conducted at relatively low crackingtemperatures to prevent rapid deactivation of the catalyst byannealation leading to coke deposition.

Slurry catalyst processes have been utilized to address the problem ofcatalyst aging by coke deposition in the course of cracking ahydrocarbon-containing feedstock. Slurry catalyst particles are selectedto be dispersible in the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock or invaporized hydrocarbon-containing feedstock so the slurry catalystscirculate with the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock in the course ofcracking the feedstock. The feedstock and the catalyst move togetherthrough the cracking reactor and are separated upon exiting the crackingreactor. Coke formed during the cracking reaction is separated from thefeedstock, and any coke deposited on the catalyst may be removed fromthe catalyst by regenerating the catalyst. The regenerated catalyst maythen be recirculated with fresh hydrocarbon-containing feedstock throughthe cracking reactor. The process, therefore, is not affected bycatalyst aging since fresh catalyst may be continually added into thecracking reactor, and catalyst upon which coke has been deposited may becontinually regenerated.

Other slurry catalysts have been used in slurry cracking processes forthe purpose of seeding the formation of coke. Very small particle slurrycatalysts may be dispersed in a hydrocarbon-containing feedstock for thepurpose of providing a plethora of small sites upon which coke maydeposit in the course of the cracking process. This inhibits theformation of large coke particles since the coke may be dispersedthroughout the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock on the small catalystparticles.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,821 provides a slurry catalyst formed of dispersedparticles of highly active molybdenum disulfide useful for cracking ahydrocarbon-containing feedstock. The slurry catalyst exists as asubstantially homogeneous dispersion of small particles in oil, wherethe catalyst's activity is dependent on the smallness of the particlesize and resultant relatively large surface area rather than its porecharacteristics. The catalyst does not have a porous support, e.g. asilica, alumina, or silica-alumina carrier, but is formed substantiallyonly of molybdenum sulfides and molybdenum oxy-sulfides.

Although presently known slurry catalysts and slurry cracking processesutilizing such catalysts do not suffer the catalyst aging problems offixed bed catalysts and fixed bed catalyst processes in cracking a heavyhydrocarbon-containing feedstock, coking is still a significant problem.Coking limits the yield of lighter molecular weight hydrocarbons thatcan be recovered from the cracking process since a portion of thehydrocarbons in the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock are converted tocoke rather than to the desired lighter molecular weight hydrocarbons.Coking also decreases the efficiency of the cracking process by limitingthe extent of hydrocarbon conversion that can be effected per crackingstep in the process, even in a slurry process, since thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock and the catalyst must be periodicallyremoved from the cracking process to separate developing coke particlesto prevent excessive coking. The slurry catalysts may actually increasecoking, for example, the slurry catalyst disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.4,557,821 is described as “a very active coking catalyst”, and a processis disclosed therein for using such a slurry catalyst that requires theuse of exacting, slow heating steps to avoid massive coking.

Improved processes for cracking heavy hydrocarbon-containing feedstocksare desirable, particularly those in which coke formation issignificantly reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a process for cracking ahydrocarbon-containing feedstock, comprising:

-   -   mixing, at a temperature selected from 375° C. to 500° C. and a        total pressure selected from 6.9 MPa to 27.5 MPa:    -   a) a hydrocarbon-containing feedstock containing at least 20 wt.        % hydrocarbons having a boiling point of greater than 538° C.;    -   b) hydrogen; and    -   c) a catalyst prepared by mixing a first salt and a second salt        in an aqueous mixture under anaerobic conditions, where, during        mixing the first and second salts in the aqueous mixture, the        aqueous mixture has a temperature of from 15° C. to 150° C., and        wherein the first salt comprises a cationic component in any        non-zero oxidation state selected from the group consisting of        Cu, Fe, Ag, Co, Mn, Ru, La, Ce, Pr, Sm, Eu, Yb, Lu, Dy, Ni, Zn,        Bi, Sn, Pb, and Sb, and wherein the second salt comprises an        anionic component selected from the group consisting of MoS₄ ²⁻,        WS₄ ²⁻, SnS₄ ⁴⁻, and SbS₄ ³⁻, where the first and second salts        are dispersible in the aqueous mixture, and separating a solid        from the aqueous mixture to produce a solid material comprised        of a plurality of cationic components from the first salt and a        plurality of anionic components from the second salt where at        least a portion of the cationic components from the first salt        are bonded with at least a portion of the anionic components        from the second salt in two or more repeating units, where the        catalyst is comprised of the solid material;    -   where the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, catalyst, and        hydrogen form a mixture upon mixing; and    -   while mixing the mixture at the selected temperature and        selected total pressure, separating a hydrocarbon-containing        product comprising one or more hydrocarbon compounds that are        liquid at standard temperature and pressure from the mixture        containing the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock and the        catalyst.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a system useful for practicing the process ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a system useful for practicing the process ofthe present invention including a reactor having three zones.

FIG. 3 is a chart plotting the liquid production rate v. time ofreaction for a process practiced in accordance with the presentinvention utilizing a copper tetrathiomolybdate catalyst relative toprocesses not in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a chart plotting the liquid production rate v. time ofreaction for a process practiced in accordance with the presentinvention utilizing a copper tetrathiotungstate.

FIG. 5 is a chart plotting the liquid production rate v. time ofreaction for a process practiced in accordance with the presentinvention utilizing a iron tetrathiomolybdate catalyst relative toprocesses not in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a chart plotting the liquid production rate v. time ofreaction for a process practiced in accordance with the presentinvention utilizing a nickel tetrathiomolybdate catalyst relative toprocesses not in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a chart plotting the liquid production rate v. time ofreaction for a process practiced in accordance with the presentinvention utilizing a cobalt tetrathiomolybdate.

FIG. 8 is a chart plotting the effect of hydrogen sulfide on the rate ofreaction of a process in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a chart plotting the yield of a process in accordance with thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a process for cracking ahydrocarbon-containing feedstock containing at least 20 wt. % heavyhydrocarbons utilizing a catalyst including a material comprised of afirst metal and a second metal and sulfur, where the first metal isselected from the group consisting of copper (Cu), iron (Fe), nickel(Ni), cobalt (Co), bismuth (Bi), silver (Ag), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn),tin (Sn), ruthenium (Ru), lanthanum (La), praseodymium (Pr), samarium(Sm), europium (Eu), ytterbium (Yb), lutetium (Lu), dysprosium (Dy),lead (Pb), and antimony (Sb), and where the second metal is selectedfrom the group consisting of molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), tin (Sn),and antimony (Sb), where the second metal is not the same as the firstmetal.

The catalyst may have a structure in which the catalyst material iscomprised of at least three linked chain elements, the chain elementscomprising a first chain element including the first metal and having astructure according to formula (I) and a second chain element includingthe second metal and having a structure according to formula (II)

where M¹ is the first metal, where M² is the second metal. The catalystmaterial comprised of the linked chain elements includes at least onefirst chain element and at least one second chain element. The chainelements in the material are linked by bonds between the two sulfuratoms of a chain element and the metal of an adjacent chain element.

The catalyst may have a structure wherein at least a portion of thematerial of the catalyst has structure in accordance with a structureselected from the group consisting of formula (III), formula (IV),formula (V), and formula (VI):

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, and at least oneM is the first metal and at least one M is the second metal;

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal and at least one M is the second metal, and X isselected from the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄),acetylacetonate, acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and NO₃;

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal and at least one M is the second metal, and X isselected from the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄),acetylacetonate, acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and NO₃;

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal and at least one M is the second metal, and X isselected from the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄),acetylacetonate, acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and NO₃.

The material of the catalyst may be a polythiometallate polymer formedof repeating monomeric units having the structures (VII), (VIII), (IX),(X) or (XI):

where M¹ is the first metal, where M² is the second metal, and where xis at least 2 and preferably is at least 5;

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal, at least one M is the second metal, and where x is atleast 2 and preferably is at least 5;

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal and at least one M is the second metal, X is selectedfrom the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄), acetylacetonate,acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and NO₃, and x is at least2, and preferably is at least 5;

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal and at least one M is the second metal, X is selectedfrom the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄), acetylacetonate,acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and x is at least 2 andpreferably is at least 5;

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal and at least one M is the second metal, X is selectedfrom the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄), acetylacetonate,acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and NO₃, and x is at least2 and preferably is at least 5.

The material of the catalyst may be tetrathiometallate materialcomprised of alternating M¹S₄ and M²S₄ tetrahedral formations locatedadjacent to each other, where M¹ is the first metal and M² is the secondmetal as described above, and where the metal of each tetrahedralformation is bonded to at least two sulfur atoms that are also bonded tothe metal of an adjacent tetrahedral formation. The tetrathiometallatematerial may have a polymeric structure wherein a portion of the firstmetal is located within interstices or holes in the polymeric structure,where the portion of the first metal located within interstices or holesin the polymeric structure is not bonded with a sulfur atom or secondmetal atom included in the polymeric structure.

The process of the present invention is effective to crack a heavyhydrocarbon-containing feedstock while producing little, if any, coke,and resulting in a hydrocarbon-containing product that contains most ofthe atomic carbon from the heavy hydrocarbon-containing feedstock andthat contains little, if any, hydrocarbons that have a boiling pointabove 538° C. The catalyst utilized in the process is particularlyeffective at selectively directing reactions occurring in the crackingprocess to avoid and/or inhibit coke formation.

Although not intending the present invention to be limited thereby, itis believed that the catalyst is a highly effective catalyst for use incracking a heavy hydrocarbon-containing material due, at least in part,to: 1) the ability of the catalyst to donate or share electrons withhydrocarbons based on the molecular structure of the catalyst (i.e. toreduce the hydrocarbon so the hydrocarbon forms a radical anion uponcracking); and 2) the surface area of the catalyst available to interactwith hydrocarbons and/or hydrocarbon radicals in the absence of anyporous alumina, alumina-silica, or silica based carrier or support.

It is believed that the hydrocarbons of a hydrocarbon-containingfeedstock are cracked in the process of the present invention by a Lewisbase mediated reaction, wherein the catalyst facilitates a reduction atthe site of the hydrocarbon where the hydrocarbon is cracked, formingtwo hydrocarbon radical anions from the initial hydrocarbon. Radicalanions are most stable when present on a primary carbon atom, therefore,formation of primary hydrocarbon radical anions may be energeticallyfavored when a hydrocarbon is cracked, or the cracked hydrocarbon mayrearrange to form the more energetically favored primary radical anion.Should the primary radical anion react with another hydrocarbon to forma larger hydrocarbon, the reaction will result in the formation of asecondary carbon-carbon bond that is susceptible to being cracked again.However, since hydrocarbon radical anions are relatively stable they arelikely to be hydrogenated by hydrogen present in the reaction mixturerather than react with another hydrocarbon in an annealtion reaction,and significant hydrocarbon radical anion-hydrocarbon reactions areunlikely. As a result, little coke is formed by agglomeration of crackedhydrocarbons.

Conventional hydrocracking catalysts utilize an active hydrogenationmetal, for example a Group VIII metal such as nickel, on a supporthaving Lewis acid properties, for example, silica, alumina-silica, oralumina supports. It is believed that cracking heavy hydrocarbons in thepresence of a Lewis acid catalyst results in the formation of crackedhydrocarbon radical cations rather than hydrocarbon radical anions.Radical cations are most stable when present on a tertiary carbon atom,therefore, cracking may be energetically directed to the formation oftertiary hydrocarbon radical cations, or, most likely, the crackedhydrocarbon may rearrange to form the more energetically favoredtertiary radical cation. Hydrocarbon radical cations are unstablerelative to hydrocarbon radical anions, and may react rapidly with otherhydrocarbons. Should the tertiary radical cation react with anotherhydrocarbon to form a larger hydrocarbon, the reaction may result in theformation of a carbon-carbon bond that is not susceptible to beingcracked again. As a result, coke is formed by agglomeration of thecracked hydrocarbons.

Again, not intending the present invention to be limited thereby, it isbelieved that the catalyst utilized in the process of the presentinvention is particularly effective for use in cracking a heavyhydrocarbon-containing material due, in part, to the molecular structureof the catalyst, which facilitates donation or sharing of electrons fromthe catalyst to a hydrocarbon or a hydrocarbon anion radical. The sulfuratoms linking the first and second metals in the catalyst may facilitatethe electron donating/sharing activity of the catalyst, acting to enablecharge transfer from the first metal to the second metal or from thesecond metal to the first metal across the molecular orbitals of thesulfur atoms, as well as potentially acting to directly share electronsfrom the sulfur atoms in the catalyst with the hydrocarbon orhydrocarbon anion radical. The sulfur atoms may further facilitatedonation/sharing of electrons from the catalyst to a hydrocarbon orhydrocarbon radical by charge stabilization of the catalyst as thecatalyst donates/shares electrons with a hydrocarbon or hydrocarbonradical. It is believed that the structure of the catalyst isparticularly effective in facilitating donation or sharing of electronsfrom the catalyst to a hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon radical when thecatalyst has a polythiometallate polymeric structure such as set forthin formulas (VII)-(XI) above, particularly when x is at least 5, sinceany charge induced in the catalyst by sharing or donation of electronsto the hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon radical may be spread over a largenumber of sulfur atoms and first and second metals that form thepolymeric structure of the catalyst.

Again, not intending the present invention to be limited thereby, it isalso believed that the catalyst utilized in the process of the presentinvention may be particularly effective for use in cracking a heavyhydrocarbon-containing material since the molecular structure of thecatalyst may have sulfided electron-rich metals incorporated thereinwhile inhibiting reduction of such electron-rich metals to azero-oxidation state. As discussed above, it is believed that use of acatalyst having the ability to donate or share electrons withhydrocarbons and/or hydrocarbon anion radicals may facilitate crackingthe hydrocarbons without attendant production of coke or proto-coke. Thecatalytic material containing sulfided electron-rich metals utilized inthe process of the present invention, therefore, facilitates hydrocarboncracking without formation of coke or proto-coke. However, use ofsulfided electron-rich metals is typically avoided in hydrocarboncracking processes since the metal of typical electron-rich metalcompounds may be easily desulfided and reduced to its zero-oxidationstate in the presence of hydrogen, and zero-oxidation stateelectron-rich metals catalyze the production of coke in a crackingprocess. For example, copper sulfide is an electron-rich metal that isnot typically utilized in cracking processes due to its propensity tocatalyze coke formation.

The molecular structure of the catalyst utilized in the process of thepresent invention, however, enables the use of an electron-rich metalsuch as copper or bismuth in a process for cracking a heavyhydrocarbon-containing material, where electron-rich metals such ascopper or bismuth are preferred for use as the first metal in thecatalyst. The electron-rich metal may be bound in the catalyst by twosulfur atoms, inhibiting or preventing the reduction of theelectron-rich metal to its zero-oxidation state, and thereby inhibitingor preventing the formation of coke by the zero-oxidation stateelectron-rich metal. Inclusion of an electron-rich metal, particularlycopper, in the catalyst utilized in the process of the present inventionpromotes the electron donation/sharing characteristics of the catalystby increasing the electron density of the catalyst available to bedonated or shared with a hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon anion radical.

Again, not intending the present invention to be limited thereby, it isalso believed that the catalyst utilized in the process of the presentinvention is particularly effective for use in cracking a heavyhydrocarbon-containing material due, in part, to the physical structureof the catalyst, which facilitates contact of the catalyst with ahydrocarbon or a hydrocarbon anion radical. The catalyst does notinclude a porous alumina, alumina-silica, or silica carrier or supportmaterial yet may have substantial surface area available for contactwith the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, particularly relative toother “bulk metal” catalytic materials that include little or noalumina, alumina-silica, or silica as a carrier or support material. Itis believed that at least a portion of the catalyst may have atetrahedral molecular structure and that the tetrahedral molecularstructure causes the physical structure of the catalyst to havesignificant porosity and pore volume relative to typical non-supportedcatalysts (which may have an octahedral molecular structure with aplate-like physical structure). The surface area of the present catalystthat is available for contact with a hydrocarbon-containing feedstockmay be relatively large due to the porosity of the catalyst. Thecatalyst may have a surface area, a pore size distribution, a porevolume, and porosity comparable to a catalyst having active metalsdeposited on an alumina, alumina-silica, or silica based carrier. Sincethe surface area of the catalyst may be substantially or totallycomprised of the active catalytic metals and sulfur, rather than islandsof active metals deposited on a carrier or support, the catalyst mayhave very high catalytic activity due its large surface area that issubstantially comprised of the catalytically active metals and sulfur.

Certain terms that are used herein are defined as follows:

“Acridinic compound” refers to a hydrocarbon compound including thestructure:

As used in the present application, an acridinic compound includes anyhydrocarbon compound containing the above structure, including,naphthenic acridines, napththenic benzoacridines, and benzoacridines, inaddition to acridine.“Anaerobic conditions” means “conditions in which less than 0.5 vol. %oxygen as a gas is present”. For example, a process that occurs underanaerobic conditions, as used herein, is a process that occurs in thepresence of less than 0.5 vol. % oxygen in a gaseous form. Anaerobicconditions may be such that no detectable oxygen gas is present.“Aqueous” as used herein is defined as containing more than 50 vol. %water. For example, an aqueous solution or aqueous mixture, as usedherein, contains more than 50 vol. % water.“ASTM” refers to American Standard Testing and Materials.“Atomic hydrogen percentage” and “atomic carbon percentage” of ahydrocarbon-containing material—including crude oils, crude productssuch as syncrudes, bitumen, tar sands hydrocarbons, shale oil, crude oilatmospheric residues, crude oil vacuum residues, naphtha, kerosene,diesel, VGO, and hydrocarbons derived from liquefying coal—are asdetermined by ASTM Method D5291.“API Gravity” refers to API Gravity at 15.5° C., and as determined byASTM Method D6822.“Benzothiophenic compound” refers to a hydrocarbon compound includingthe structure:

As used in the present application, a benzothiophenic compound includesany hydrocarbon compound containing the above structure, includingdi-benzothiophenes, naphthenic-benzothiophenes,napththenic-di-benzothiophenes, benzo-naphtho-thiophenes,naphthenic-benzo-naphthothiophenes, and dinaphtho-thiophenes, inaddition to benzothiophene.“BET surface area” refers to a surface area of a material as determinedby ASTM Method D3663.“Blending” as used herein is defined to mean contact of two or moresubstances by intimately admixing the two or more substances.Boiling range distributions for a hydrocarbon-containing material are asdetermined by ASTM Method D5307.“Bond” as used herein with reference to atoms in a molecule may refer toa covalent bond, a dative bond, or an ionic bond, dependent on thecontext.“Carbazolic compound” refers to a hydrocarbon compound including thestructure:

As used in the present application, a carbazolic compound includes anyhydrocarbon compound containing the above structure, includingnaphthenic carbazoles, benzocarbazoles, and napthenic benzocarbazoles,in addition to carbazole.“Carbon number” refers to the total number of carbon atoms in amolecule.“Catalyst” refers to a substance that increases the rate of a chemicalprocess and/or that modifies the selectivity of a chemical process asbetween potential products of the chemical process, where the substanceis not consumed by the process. A catalyst, as used herein, may increasethe rate of a chemical process by reducing the activation energyrequired to effect the chemical process. Alternatively, a catalyst, asused herein, may increase the rate of a chemical process by modifyingthe selectivity of the process between potential products of thechemical process, which may increase the rate of the chemical process byaffecting the equilibrium balance of the process. Further, a catalyst,as used herein, may not increase the rate of reactivity of a chemicalprocess but merely may modify the selectivity of the process as betweenpotential products.“Catalyst acidity by ammonia chemisorption” refers to the acidity of acatalyst substrate as measured by volume of ammonia adsorbed by thecatalyst substrate and subsequently desorbed from the catalyst substrateas determined by ammonia temperature programmed desorption between atemperature of 120° C. and 550° C. For clarity, a catalyst that isdecomposed in the measurement of acidity by ammonia temperatureprogrammed desorption to a temperature of 550° C. and/or a catalyst forwhich a measurement of acidity may not be determined by ammoniatemperature programmed desorption, e.g. a liquid or gas, is defined forpurposes of the present invention to have an indefinite acidity asmeasured by ammonia chemisorption Ammonia temperature programmeddesorption measurement of the acidity of a catalyst is effected byplacing a catalyst sample that has not been exposed to oxygen ormoisture in a sample container such as a quartz cell; transferring thesample container containing the sample to a temperature programmeddesorption analyzer such as a Micrometrics TPD/TPR 2900 analyzer; in theanalyzer, raising the temperature of the sample in helium to 550° C. ata rate of 10° C. per minute; cooling the sample in helium to 120° C.;alternately flushing the sample with ammonia for 10 minutes and withhelium for 25 minutes a total of 3 times, and subsequently measuring theamount of ammonia desorbed from the sample in the temperature range from120° C. to 550° C. while raising the temperature at a rate of 10° C. perminute.“Coke” is a solid carbonaceous material that is formed primarily of ahydrocarbonaceous material and that is insoluble in toluene asdetermined by ASTM Method D4072.“Cracking” as used herein with reference to a hydrocarbon-containingmaterial refers to breaking hydrocarbon molecules in thehydrocarbon-containing material into hydrocarbon fragments, where thehydrocarbon fragments have a lower molecular weight than the hydrocarbonmolecule from which they are derived. Cracking conducted in the presenceof a hydrogen donor may be referred to as hydrocracking. Crackingeffected by temperature in the absence of a catalyst may be referred toa thermal cracking. Cracking may also produce some of the effects ofhydrotreating such as sulfur reduction, metal reduction, nitrogenreduction, and reduction of TAN.“Diesel” refers to hydrocarbons with a boiling range distribution from260° C. up to 343° C. (500° F. up to 650° F.) at a pressure of 0.101MPa. Diesel content may be determined by the quantity of hydrocarbonshaving a boiling range of from 260° C. to 343° C. at a pressure of 0.101MPa relative to a total quantity of hydrocarbons as measured by boilingrange distribution in accordance with ASTM Method D5307.“Dispersible” as used herein with respect to mixing a solid, such as asalt, in a liquid is defined to mean that the components that form thesolid, upon being mixed with the liquid, are retained in the liquid atSTP for a period of at least 24 hours upon cessation of mixing the solidwith the liquid. A solid material is dispersible in a liquid if thesolid or its components are soluble in the liquid. A solid material isalso dispersible in a liquid if the solid or its components form acolloidal dispersion or a suspension in the liquid.“Distillate” or “middle distillate” refers to hydrocarbons with aboiling range distribution from 204° C. up to 343° C. (400° F. up to650° F.) at a pressure of 0.101 MPa. Distillate content is as determinedby ASTM Method D5307. Distillate may include diesel and kerosene.“Hydrogen” as used herein refers to molecular hydrogen unless specifiedas atomic hydrogen.“Insoluble” as used herein refers to a substance a majority (at least 50wt. %) of which does not dissolve or disperse in a liquid after a periodof 24 hours upon being mixed with the liquid at a specified temperatureand pressure, where the undissolved portion of the substance can berecovered from the liquid by physical means. For example, a fineparticulate material dispersed in a liquid is insoluble in the liquid if50 wt. % or more of the material may be recovered from the liquid bycentrifugation and filtration.“IP” refers to the Institute of Petroleum, now the Energy Institute ofLondon, United Kingdom.“Iso-paraffins” refer to branched chain saturated hydrocarbons.“Kerosene” refers to hydrocarbons with a boiling range distribution from204° C. up to 260° C. (400° F. up to 500° F.) at a pressure of 0.101MPa. Kerosene content may be determined by the quantity of hydrocarbonshaving a boiling range of from 204° C. to 260° C. at a pressure of 0.101MPa relative to a total quantity of hydrocarbons as measured by boilingrange distribution in accordance with ASTM Method D5307.“Lewis base” refers to a compound and/or material with the ability todonate one or more electrons to another compound.“Ligand” as used herein is defined as a molecule, compound, atom, or ionattached to, or capable of attaching to, a metal ion in a coordinationcomplex.“Light hydrocarbons” refers to hydrocarbons having a carbon number in arange of from 1 to 6.“Mixing” as used herein is defined as contacting two or more substancesby intermingling the two or more substances. Blending, as used herein,is a subclass of mixing, where blending requires intimately admixing orintimately intermingling the two or more substances, for example into ahomogenous dispersion.“Monomer” as used herein is defined as a molecular compound or portionof a molecular compound that may be reactively joined with itself oranother monomer in repeated linked units to form a polymer.“Naphtha” refers to hydrocarbon components with a boiling rangedistribution from 38° C. up to 204° C. (100° F. up to 400° F.) at apressure of 0.101 MPa. Naphtha content may be determined by the quantityof hydrocarbons having a boiling range of from 38° C. to 204° C. at apressure of 0.101 MPa relative to a total quantity of hydrocarbons asmeasured by boiling range distribution in accordance with ASTM MethodD5307. Content of hydrocarbon components, for example, paraffins,iso-paraffins, olefins, naphthenes and aromatics in naphtha are asdetermined by ASTM Method D6730.“n-Paraffins” refer to normal (straight chain) saturated hydrocarbons.“Olefins” refer to hydrocarbon compounds with non-aromatic carbon-carbondouble bonds. Types of olefins include, but are not limited to, cis,trans, internal, terminal, branched, and linear.When two or more elements are described as “operatively connected”, theelements are defined to be directly or indirectly connected to allowdirect or indirect fluid flow between the elements.“Periodic Table” refers to the Periodic Table as specified by theInternational Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), November2003. As used herein, an element of the Periodic Table of Elements maybe referred to by its symbol in the Periodic Table. For example, Cu maybe used to refer to copper, Ag may be used to refer to silver, W may beused to refer to tungsten etc.“Polyaromatic compounds” refer to compounds that include two or morearomatic rings. Examples of polyaromatic compounds include, but are notlimited to, indene, naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene,benzothiophene, dibenzothiophene, and bi-phenyl.“Polymer” as used herein is defined herein as a compound comprised ofrepetitively linked monomers.“Pore size distribution” refers a distribution of pore size diameters ofa material as measured by ASTM Method D4641.“SCFB” refers to standard cubic feet of gas per barrel of crude feed.“STP” as used herein refers to Standard Temperature and Pressure, whichis 25° C. and 0.101 MPa.The term “soluble” as used herein refers to a substance a majority (atleast 50 wt. %) of which dissolves in a liquid upon being mixed with theliquid at a specified temperature and pressure. For example, a materialdispersed in a liquid is soluble in the liquid if less than 50 wt. % ofthe material may be recovered from the liquid by centrifugation andfiltration.“TAN” refers to a total acid number expressed as millgrams (“mg”) of KOHper gram (“g”) of sample. TAN is as determined by ASTM Method D664.“VGO” refers to hydrocarbons with a boiling range distribution of from343° C. up to 538° C. (650° F. up to 1000° F.) at 0.101 MPa. VGO contentmay be determined by the quantity of hydrocarbons having a boiling rangeof from 343° C. to 538° C. at a pressure of 0.101 MPa relative to atotal quantity of hydrocarbons as measured by boiling range distributionin accordance with ASTM Method D5307.“wppm” as used herein refers to parts per million, by weight.

The present invention is directed to a process for cracking ahydrocarbon-containing feedstock in which the hydrocarbon-containingfeedstock, hydrogen, and a catalyst, as defined herein, are mixed at atemperature of from 375° C. to 500° C. and a pressure of from 6.9 MPa to27.5 MPa (1000 psi to 4000 psi), and a vapor comprising ahydrocarbon-containing product comprising one or more hydrocarboncompounds that are liquid at STP is separated from the mixture.

Hydrocarbon-Containing Feedstock

The hydrocarbon-containing feedstock contains heavy hydrocarbons thatare subject to being cracked in the process. The hydrocarbon-containingfeedstock, therefore, is selected to contain at least 20 wt. %hydrocarbons having a boiling point of greater than 538° C. The amountof hydrocarbons having a boiling point of greater than 538° C. in ahydrocarbon-containing material may be determined in accordance withASTM Method D5307. The hydrocarbon-containing feedstock may be selectedto contain at least 25 wt. %, or at least 30 wt. %, or at least 35 wt.%, or at least 40 wt. %, or at least 45 wt. %, or at least 50 wt. %hydrocarbons having a boiling point of greater than 538° C. Thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock may be selected to contain at least 20wt. % residue, or at least 25 wt. % residue, or at least 30 wt. %residue, or at least 35 wt. % residue, or at least 40 wt. % residue, orat least 45 wt. % residue, or least 50 wt. % residue.

The hydrocarbon-containing feedstock may contain significant quantitiesof lighter hydrocarbons as well as the heavy hydrocarbons. Thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock may contain at least 30 wt. %, or atleast 35 wt. %, or at least 40 wt. %, or at least 45 wt. %, or at least50 wt. % of hydrocarbons having a boiling point of 538° C. or less asmeasured at a pressure of 0.101 MPa. The amount of hydrocarbons having aboiling point of 538° C. or less in a hydrocarbon-containing materialmay be determined in accordance with ASTM Method D5307. Thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock may contain at least 20 wt. %, or atleast 25 wt. %, or at least 30 wt. %, or at least 35 wt. %, or at least40 wt. %, or at least 45 wt. % of naphtha and distillate. Thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock may be a crude oil, or may be a toppedcrude oil.

The hydrocarbon-containing feedstock may also contain quantities ofmetals such as vanadium and nickel. The hydrocarbon-containing feedstockmay contain at least 50 wppm vanadium and at least 20 wppm nickel.

The hydrocarbon-containing feedstock may also contain quantities ofsulfur and nitrogen. The hydrocarbon containing feedstock may contain atleast 2 wt. % sulfur, or at least 3 wt. % sulfur; and thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock may contain at least 0.25 wt. %nitrogen, or at least 0.4 wt. % nitrogen.

The hydrocarbon-containing feedstock may also contain appreciablequantities of naphthenic acids. For example, the hydrocarbon-containingfeedstock may have a TAN of at least 0.5, or at least 1.0, or at least2.0.

The process of the present invention is particularly applicable tocertain heavy petroleum and coal derived hydrocarbon-containingfeedstocks. The hydrocarbon-containing feedstock may be a heavy or anextra-heavy crude oil containing significant quantities of residue orpitch; a topped heavy or topped extra-heavy crude oil containingsignificant quantities of residue or pitch; bitumen; hydrocarbonsderived from tar sands; shale oil; crude oil atmospheric residues; crudeoil vacuum residues; asphalts; and hydrocarbons derived from liquefyingcoal.

Hydrogen

The hydrogen that is mixed with the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock andthe catalyst in the process of the present invention is derived from ahydrogen source. The hydrogen source may be hydrogen gas obtained fromany conventional sources or methods for producing hydrogen gas.Optionally, the hydrogen may be provided in a synthesis gas.

Catalyst

The catalyst that is mixed with the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock andthe hydrogen is defined by its method of preparation. The catalyst isprepared by mixing a first salt and a second salt in an aqueous mixtureunder anaerobic conditions, where, during mixing of the first and secondsalts in the aqueous mixture, the aqueous mixture has a temperature offrom 15° C. to 150° C. The first salt comprises a cationic component inany non-zero oxidation state selected from the group consisting of Cu,Fe, Ag, Co, Mn, Ru, La, Ce, Pr, Sm, Eu, Yb, Lu, Dy, Ni, Zn, Bi, Sn, Pb,and Sb. The second salt comprises an anionic component selected from thegroup consisting of MoS₄ ²⁻, WS₄ ²⁻, SnS₄ ⁴⁻, and SbS₄ ³⁻. The first andsecond salts are dispersible, and preferably soluble, in the aqueousmixture. The catalyst is separated from the aqueous mixture as a solidmaterial comprised of a plurality of cationic components from the firstsalt and a plurality of anionic components from the second salt where atleast a portion of the cationic components from the first salt arebonded with at least a portion of the anionic components from the secondsalt in two or more repeating units. In some instances, the solidmaterial of the catalyst may be comprised of the anion of the first saltas well as the cation of the first salt and the anion of the secondsalt.

The first salt utilized to form the catalyst, includes a cationiccomponent comprising a metal in any non-zero oxidation state selectedfrom the group consisting of Cu, Fe, Bi, Ag, Ni, Co, Mn, Zn, Sn, Ru, La,Ce, Pr, Sm, Eu, Yb, Lu, Dy, Pb, and Sb, where the metal of the cationiccomponent is the first metal of the catalyst. The cationic component ofthe first salt may consist essentially of a metal selected from thegroup consisting of Cu, Fe, Bi, Ag, Ni, Co, Mn, Zn, Sn, Ru, La, Ce, Pr,Su, Eu, Yb, Lu, Dy, Pb, and Sb. The cationic component of the first saltmust be capable of bonding with the anionic component of the second saltto form the catalyst in the aqueous mixture at a temperature of from 15°C. to 150° C. and under anaerobic conditions.

The first salt also contains an anionic component associated with thecationic component of the first salt to form the first salt. The anioniccomponent of the first salt may be selected from a wide range ofcounterions to the cationic component of the first salt so long as thecombined cationic component and the anionic component of the first saltform a salt that is dispersible, and preferably soluble, in the aqueousmixture in which the first salt and the second salt are mixed, and solong as the anionic component of the first salt does not prevent thecombination of the cationic component of the first salt with the anioniccomponent of the second salt in the aqueous mixture to form the materialof the catalyst. The anionic component of the first salt may be selectedfrom the group consisting of sulfate, chloride, bromide, iodide,acetate, acetylacetonate, phosphate, nitrate, perchlorate, oxalate,citrate, and tartrate.

The anionic component of the first salt may associate with or beincorporated into a polymeric structure including the cationic componentof the first salt and the anionic component of the second salt to formthe material of the catalyst. For example, the anionic component of thefirst salt may complex with a polymeric structure formed of the cationiccomponent of the first salt and the anionic component of the second saltas shown in formulas (IX) and (X) above, where X=the anionic componentof the first salt, or may be incorporated into a polymeric structureincluding the cationic component of the first salt and the anioniccomponent of the second salt as shown in formula (XI) above, where X=theanionic component of the first salt.

Certain compounds are preferred for use as the first salt to form thecatalyst material. In particular, the first salt is preferably selectedfrom the group consisting of CuSO₄, copper acetate, copperacetylacetonate, FeSO₄, Fe₂(SO₄)₃, iron acetate, iron acetylacetonate,ZnCl₂, ZnSO₄, zinc acetate, zinc acetylacetonate, silver acetate, silveracetylacetonate, SnSO₄, SnCl₄, tin acetate, tin acetylacetonate, MnSO₄,manganese acetate, manganese acetylacetonate, bismuth acetate, bismuthacetylacetonate, NiSO₄, nickel acetate, nickel acetylacetonate, CoSO₄,cobalt acetate, cobalt acetylactoneate, and hydrates thereof. Thesematerials are generally commercially available, or may be prepared fromcommercially available materials according to well-known methods.

The first salt may be contained in an aqueous solution or an aqueousmixture, where the aqueous solution or aqueous mixture containing thefirst salt (hereinafter the “first aqueous solution”) may be mixed withan aqueous solution or an aqueous mixture containing the second salt(hereinafter the “second aqueous solution”) in the aqueous mixture toform the material of the catalyst. The first salt may be dispersible,and most preferably soluble, in the first aqueous solution and isdispersible, and preferably soluble, in the aqueous mixture of the firstand second salts. The first aqueous solution may contain more than 50vol. % water, or at least 75 vol. % water, or at least 90 vol. % water,or at least 95 vol. % water, and may contain more than 0 vol. % but lessthan 50 vol. %, or at most 25 vol. %, or at most 10 vol. %, or at most 5vol. % of an organic solvent containing from 1 to 5 carbons selectedfrom the group consisting of an alcohol, a diol, an aldehyde, a ketone,an amine, an amide, a furan, an ether, acetonitrile, and mixturesthereof. The organic solvent present in the first aqueous solution, ifany, should be selected so that the organic compounds in the organicsolvent do not inhibit reaction of the cationic component of the firstsalt with the anionic component of the second salt upon forming anaqueous mixture containing the first and second salts, e.g., by formingligands or by reacting with the first or second salts or theirrespective cationic or anionic components. The first aqueous solutionmay contain no organic solvent, and may consist essentially of water,preferably deionized water, and the first salt.

The concentration of the first salt in the first aqueous solution may beselected to promote formation of a catalyst having a particle sizedistribution with a small mean and/or median particle size, where theparticles have a relatively large surface area, upon mixing the firstsalt and the second salt in the aqueous mixture. To promote theformation of a catalyst having a relatively large surface area andhaving a particle size distribution with a relatively small mean and/ormedian particle size, the first aqueous solution may contain at most 3moles per liter, or at most 2 moles per liter, or at most 1 mole perliter, or at most 0.6 moles per liter, or at most 0.2 moles per liter ofthe first salt.

The second salt utilized to form the catalyst includes an anioniccomponent that is a tetrathiometallate of molybdenum, tungsten, tin orantimony. In particular, the second salt may contain an anioniccomponent that is selected from the group consisting of MoS₄ ²⁻, WS₄ ²⁻,SnS₄ ⁴⁻, and SbS₄ ³⁻.

The second salt also contains a cationic component associated with theanionic component of the second salt to form the second salt. Thecationic component of the second salt may be selected from an ammoniumcounterion, and alkali metal and alkaline earth metal counterions to thetetrathiometallate anionic component of the second salt so long as thecombined cationic component and the anionic component of the second saltform a salt that is dispersable, and preferably soluble, in the aqueousmixture in which the first salt and the second salt are mixed, and solong as the cationic component of the second salt does not prevent thecombination of the cationic component of the first salt with the anioniccomponent of the second salt in the aqueous mixture to form thecatalyst. The cationic component of the second salt may comprise one ormore sodium ions, or one or more potassium ions, or one or more ammoniumions.

Certain compounds are preferred for use as the second salt used to formthe material of the catalyst. In particular, the second salt ispreferably selected from the group consisting of Na₂MoS₄, Na₂WS₄,K₂MoS₄, K₂WS₄, (NH₄)²MoS₄, (NH₄)₂WS₄, Na₄SnS₄, (NH₄)₄SnS₄, (NH₄)₃SbS₄,Na₃SbS₄, and hydrates thereof.

The second salt may be a commercially available tetrathiomolybdate ortetrathiotungstate salt. For example, the second salt may be ammoniumtetrathiomolybdate, which is commercially available from AAA MolybdenumProducts, Inc. 7233 W. 116 Pl., Broomfield, Colo., USA 80020, orammonium tetrathiotungstate, which is commercially available fromSigma-Aldrich, 3050 Spruce St., St. Louis, Mo., USA 63103.

Alternatively, the second salt may be produced from a commerciallyavailable tetrathiomolybdate or tetrathiotungstate salt. For example,the second salt may be produced from ammonium tetrathiomolybdate or fromammonium tetrathiotungstate. The second salt may be formed from thecommercially available ammonium tetrathiometallate salts by exchangingthe cationic ammonium component of the commercially available salt witha desired alkali or alkaline earth cationic component from a separatesalt. The exchange of the cationic components to form the desired secondsalt may be effected by mixing the commercially available salt and thesalt containing the desired cationic component in an aqueous solution toform the desired second salt.

A method of forming the second salt is to disperse an ammoniumtetrathiomolybdate or ammonium tetrathiotungstate in an aqueoussolution, preferably water, and to disperse an alkali metal or alkalineearth metal cationic component donor salt, preferably a carbonate, inthe aqueous solution, where the cationic component donor salt isprovided in an amount relative to the ammonium tetrathiomolybdate orammonium tetrathiotungstate salt to provide a stoichiometriallyequivalent or greater amount of its cation to ammonium of the ammoniumtetrathiomolybdate or ammonium tetrathiotungstate salt. The aqueoussolution may be heated to a temperature of at least 50° C., or at least65° C. up to 100° C. to evolve ammonia from the ammonium containing saltand carbon dioxide from the carbonate containing salt as gases, and toform the second salt. For example a Na₂MoS₄ salt may be prepared for useas the second salt by mixing commercially available (NH₄)₂MoS₄ andNa₂CO₃ in water at a temperature of 70° C.-80° C. for a time periodsufficient to permit evolution of a significant amount, preferablysubstantially all, of ammonia and carbon dioxide gases from thesolution, typically from 30 minutes to 4 hours, and usually about 2hours.

If the second salt is a sodium tetrathiostannate salt, it may beproduced by dissolving Na₂Sn(OH)₆ and Na₂S in a 1:4 molar ratio inboiling deionized water (100 g of Na₂Sn(OH)₆ per 700 ml of water and 250g of Na₂S per 700 ml of water), stiffing the mixture at 90-100° C. for2-3 hours, adding finely pulverized MgO to the mixture at a 2:5 wt.ratio relative to the Na₂Sn(OH)₆ and continuing stiffing the mixture at90-100° C. for an additional 2-3 hours, cooling and collectingprecipitated impurities from the mixture, then concentrating theremaining solution by 50-60 vol. %, allowing the concentrated solutionto stand, then collecting the Na₄SnS₄ that crystallizes from theconcentrated solution. A ammonium tetrathiostannate salt may be producedby mixing SnS₂ with (NH₄)₂S in a 1:2 mole ratio in liquid ammonia underan inert gas (e.g. nitrogen), filtering, and recovering the solid(NH)₄SnS₄ as a residue.

The second salt may be contained in an aqueous solution (the secondaqueous solution, as noted above), where the second aqueous solutioncontaining the second salt may be mixed with the first aqueous solutioncontaining the first salt in the aqueous mixture to form the catalyst.The second salt is preferably dispersible, and most preferably soluble,in the second aqueous solution and is dispersible, and preferablysoluble, in the aqueous mixture containing the first and second salts.The second aqueous solution contains more than 50 vol. % water, or atleast 75 vol. % water, or at least 90 vol. % water, or at least 95 vol.% water, and may contain more than 0 vol. % but less than 50 vol. %, orat most 25 vol. %, or at most 10 vol. %, or at most 5 vol. % of anorganic solvent containing from 1 to 5 carbons and selected from thegroup consisting of an alcohol, a diol, an aldehyde, a ketone, an amine,an amide, a furan, an ether, acetonitrile, and mixtures thereof. Theorganic solvent present in the second aqueous solution, if any, shouldbe selected so that the organic compounds in the organic solvent do notinhibit reaction of the cationic component of the first salt with theanionic component of the second salt upon forming an aqueous mixturecontaining the first and second salts, e.g., by forming ligands or byreacting with the first or second salts or their respective cationic oranionic components. Preferably, the second aqueous solution contains noorganic solvent. Most preferably the second aqueous solution consistsessentially of water, preferably deionized, and the second salt.

The concentration of the second salt in the second aqueous solution maybe selected to promote formation of the catalyst having a particle sizedistribution with a small mean and/or median particle size and having arelatively large surface area per particle upon mixing the first saltand the second salt in the aqueous mixture. To promote the formation ofa catalyst having a particle size distribution with a relatively smallmean and/or median particle size, the second aqueous solution maycontain at most 0.8 moles per liter, or at most 0.6 moles per liter, orat most 0.4 moles per liter, or at most 0.2 moles per liter, or at most0.1 moles per liter of the second salt.

The first salt and the second salt are mixed in an aqueous mixture toform the catalyst. The amount of the first salt relative to the amountof the second salt provided to the aqueous mixture may be selected sothat the atomic ratio of the cationic component metal of the first saltto the metal of the anionic component of the second salt, eithermolybdenum, tungsten, tin or antimony, is from 2:3 to 20:1, or from 1:1to 10:1. The amount of the first salt and the second salt provided tothe aqueous mixture may be selected so that the atomic ratio of thecationic component metal of the first salt to the metal of the anioniccomponent of the second salt is at least 1.5:1, or at least 1.6:1, or atleast 2:1, or more than 2:1.

An aqueous mixture of the first salt and the second salt may be formedby adding a solid form of the second salt to an aqueous solutioncontaining the first salt (the first aqueous solution). Alternatively,the aqueous mixture of the first salt and the second salt may be formedby adding a solid form of the first salt to an aqueous solutioncontaining the second salt (the second aqueous solution). In a furtherembodiment, the aqueous mixture of the first and second salts may beformed by combining a first aqueous solution containing the first saltand a second aqueous solution containing the second salt. If desired,water—preferably deionized—may be added to the aqueous mixture formed byany of these methods to dilute the aqueous mixture and reduce theconcentrations of the first and second salts in the aqueous mixture.

The aqueous mixture of the first and second salts may also be formed byadding the first salt and the second salt into an aqueous solutionseparate from both a first aqueous solution containing the first saltand a second aqueous solution containing the second salt. The separateaqueous solution will be referred hereafter as the “third aqueoussolution”. The third aqueous solution contains more than 50 vol. %water, or at least 75 vol. % water, or at least 90 vol. % water, or atleast 95 vol. % water, and may contain more than 0 vol. % but less than50 vol. %, or at most 25 vol. %, or at most 10 vol. %, or at most 5 vol.% of an organic solvent containing from 1 to 5 carbons and selected fromthe group consisting of an alcohol, a diol, an aldehyde, a ketone, anamine, an amide, a furan, an ether, acetonitrile, and mixtures thereof.The organic solvent present in the third aqueous solution, if any,should be selected so that the organic compounds in the organic solventdo not inhibit reaction of the anionic component of the first salt withthe cationic component of the second salt upon forming the aqueousmixture, e.g., by forming ligands or reacting with the cationiccomponent of the first salt or with the anionic component of the secondsalt. Preferably, the third aqueous solution contains no organicsolvent, and most preferably comprises deionized water.

The first salt and the second salt may be added as solids to the thirdaqueous solution. Alternatively, either the first salt in a firstaqueous solution or the second salt in a second aqueous solution may beadded to the third aqueous solution while adding the other salt in solidform to form the aqueous mixture. If desired, water may be added to theaqueous mixture formed by any of these methods to dilute the aqueousmixture and reduce the concentrations of the first and second salts inthe aqueous mixture.

The aqueous mixture of the first and second salts may also be formed bycombining a first aqueous solution containing the first salt and asecond aqueous solution containing the second salt in a third aqueoussolution. The volume ratio of the third aqueous solution to the firstaqueous solution containing the first salt may be from 0.5:1 to 50:1where the first aqueous solution may contain at most 3, or at most 2, orat most 1, or at most 0.8, or at most 0.5, or at most 0.3 moles of thefirst salt per liter of the first aqueous solution. Likewise, the volumeratio of the third aqueous solution to the second aqueous solutioncontaining the second salt may be from 0.5:1 to 50:1 where the secondaqueous solution may contain at most 0.8, or at most 0.4, or at most0.2, or at most 0.1 moles of the second salt per liter of the secondaqueous solution.

The first salt and the second salt may be combined in the aqueousmixture, regardless of which method is selected to combine the first andsecond salts, so that the aqueous mixture containing the first andsecond salts contains at most 1.5, or at most 1.2, or at most 1, or atmost 0.8, or at most 0.6 moles of the combined first and second saltsper liter of the aqueous mixture. The particle size of the solidmaterial product produced by mixing the first and second salts in theaqueous mixture increases, and the surface area of the particlesdecreases, with increasing concentrations of the salts. Therefore, tolimit the particle sizes in the particle size distribution of the solidmaterial product and to increase the relative surface area of theparticles, the aqueous mixture may contain at most 0.8 moles of thecombined first and second salts per liter of the aqueous mixture, morepreferably at most 0.6 moles, or at most 0.4 moles, or at most 0.2 molesof the combined first and second salts per liter of the aqueous mixture.The amount of the first salt and the total volume of the aqueous mixturemay be selected to provide at most 1, or at most 0.8, or at most 0.4moles of the cationic component of the first salt per liter of theaqueous mixture. The amount of the second salt and the total volume ofthe aqueous mixture may be selected to provide at most 0.4, or at most0.2, or at most 0.1, or at most 0.01 moles of the anionic component ofthe second salt per liter of the aqueous mixture.

The rate of addition of the first salt and/or the second salt to theaqueous mixture may be controlled to limit the instantaneousconcentration of the first salt and/or the second salt in the aqueousmixture to produce a solid product material comprised of relativelysmall particles having relatively large surface area. Limiting theinstantaneous concentration of one or both salts in the aqueous mixturemay reduce the mean and/or median particle size of the resulting solidproduct material by limiting the simultaneous availability of largequantities of the cationic components of the first salt and largequantities of the anionic components of the second salt that mayinteract to form a solid product material comprised primarily ofrelatively large particles. The rate of addition of the first saltand/or the second salt to the aqueous mixture may be controlled to limitthe instantaneous concentration of the first salt and/or the second saltin the aqueous mixture to at most 0.05 moles per liter, or at most 0.01moles per liter, or at most 0.001 moles per liter.

The rate of addition of the first salt and/or the second salt to theaqueous mixture may be controlled by limiting the rate of addition of afirst aqueous solution containing the first salt and/or the rate ofaddition of a second aqueous solution containing the second salt to theaqueous mixture. The first aqueous solution containing the first saltmay be added to the second aqueous solution containing the second salt,or the second aqueous solution may be added to the first aqueoussolution, where the solution being added is added in a dropwise mannerto the other solution. The rate of addition of drops of the firstaqueous solution to the second aqueous solution or of drops of thesecond aqueous solution to the first aqueous solution may be controlledto provide the desired instantaneous concentration of the first salt orof the second salt in the aqueous mixture. Alternatively, the firstaqueous solution containing the first salt may be dispersed directlyinto the second aqueous solution containing the second salt at acontrolled flow rate to provide a desired instantaneous concentration ofthe first salt in the aqueous mixture. Similarly, the second aqueoussolution containing the second salt may be dispersed directly into thefirst aqueous solution containing the first salt at a controlled flowrate selected to provide a desired instantaneous concentration of thesecond salt in the aqueous mixture. The first aqueous solution may bedirectly dispersed into the second aqueous solution or the secondaqueous solution may be directly dispersed into the first aqueoussolution at a selected controlled flow rate using conventional means fordispersing one solution into another solution at a controlled flow rate.For example, one solution may dispersed through a nozzle located in theother solution, where the flow of the solution through the nozzle may bemetered by a flow rate control device.

Alternatively, the first aqueous solution containing the first salt andthe second aqueous solution containing the second salt may be added to athird aqueous solution, preferably simultaneously, at a controlled rateselected to provide desired instantaneous concentrations of the firstsalt and the second salt in the aqueous mixture. The first aqueoussolution containing the first salt and the second aqueous solutioncontaining the second salt may be added to the third aqueous solution ata controlled rate by adding the first aqueous solution and the secondaqueous solution to the third aqueous solution in a dropwise manner. Therate that drops of the first aqueous solution and the second aqueoussolution are added to the third aqueous solution may be controlled tolimit the instantaneous concentration of the first salt and the secondsalt in the aqueous mixture as desired. The first aqueous solutioncontaining the first salt and the second aqueous solution containing thesecond salt may alternatively be dispersed directly into the thirdaqueous solution at a flow rate selected to provide desiredinstantaneous concentrations of the first salt and the second salt. Thefirst aqueous solution and the second aqueous solution may be disperseddirectly into the third aqueous solution using conventional means fordispersing one solution into another solution at a controlled flow rate.For example, the first aqueous solution and the second aqueous solutionmay be dispersed into the third aqueous solution through separatenozzles located within the third aqueous solution, where the flow of thefirst and second solutions through the nozzles is metered by separateflow metering devices.

The particle size distribution of the catalyst material produced bymixing the first salt and the second salt in the aqueous mixture ispreferably controlled by the rate of addition of the first and secondaqueous solutions to the third aqueous solution, as described above, sothat the median and/or mean particle size of the particle sizedistribution falls within a range of from 50 nm to 1 μm. The particlesize distribution of the catalyst material may be controlled by the rateof addition of the first and second aqueous solutions to the thirdaqueous solution so that the median and/or mean particle size of theparticle size distribution of the catalyst material may range from atleast 50 nm up to 750 nm, or up to 500 μm, or up to 250 nm.

The surface area of the catalyst material particles produced by mixingthe first and second aqueous solutions in the third aqueous solution ispreferably controlled by the rate of addition of the first and secondaqueous solutions to the third aqueous solution, as described above, sothat the BET surface area of the catalyst material particles may rangefrom 50 m²/g to 500 m²/g. The surface area of the catalyst materialparticles may be controlled by the rate of addition of the first andsecond aqueous solutions to the third aqueous solution so that the BETsurface area of the catalyst material particles is from 100 m²/g to 350m²/g

The aqueous mixture containing the first salt and the second salt ismixed to facilitate interaction and reaction of the cationic componentof the first salt with the anionic component of the second salt to formthe catalyst. The aqueous mixture may be mixed by any conventional meansfor agitating an aqueous solution or an aqueous dispersion, for exampleby mechanical stiffing.

During mixing of the aqueous mixture of the first and second salts, thetemperature of the aqueous mixture is maintained in the range of from15° C. to 150° C., or from 60° C. to 125° C., or from 65° C. to 100° C.When the cationic component of the second salt is ammonium, thetemperature should be maintained in a range from 65° C. to 150° C. toevolve ammonia as a gas from the second salt. The temperature of theaqueous mixture during mixing may be maintained at less than 100° C. sothat the mixing may be conducted without the application of positivepressure necessary to inhibit the water in the aqueous mixture frombecoming steam. If the second salt is a tetrathiostannate, thetemperature of the aqueous mixture may be maintained at 100° C. or lessto inhibit the degradation of the second salt into tin disulfides. Mostpreferably the temperature of the aqueous mixture is maintained below90° C. to prevent the catalyst material from decomposing after it isformed.

Maintaining the temperature of the aqueous mixture in a range of from50° C. to 150° C. may result in production of a catalyst material havinga relatively large surface area and a substantially reduced median ormean particle size relative to a catalyst material produced in the samemanner at a lower temperature. It is believed that maintaining thetemperature in the range of 50° C. to 150° C. drives the reaction of thecationic component of the first salt with the anionic component of thesecond salt, reducing the reaction time and limiting the time availablefor the resulting product to agglomerate prior to precipitation.Maintaining the temperature in a range of from 50° C. to 150° C. duringthe mixing of the first and second salts in the aqueous mixture mayresult in production of a catalyst material having a particle sizedistribution with a median or mean particle size of from 50 nm up to 5μm, or up to 1 μm, or up to 750 nm; and having a BET surface area offrom 50 m²/g up to 500 m²/g or from 100 m²/g to 350 m²/g.

The aqueous mixture may be heated using any conventional means forheating a solution being mixed. For example, the aqueous mixture may bemixed in a jacketed mixing apparatus, where heat may be applied to theaqueous mixture by passing steam through the jacket of the mixingapparatus. If utilized, the first aqueous solution, second aqueoussolution, and/or the third aqueous solution may be heated to atemperature within the desired range prior to forming the aqueousmixture by mixing the first and second salts.

The first and second salts in the aqueous mixture may be mixed under apressure of from 0.101 MPa to 10 MPa (1.01 bar to 100 bar). Preferably,the first and second salts in the aqueous mixture are mixed atatmospheric pressure, however, if the mixing is effected at atemperature greater than 100° C. the mixing may be conducted underpositive pressure to inhibit the formation of steam.

During mixing, the aqueous mixture of the first and second salts ismaintained under anaerobic conditions. Maintaining the aqueous mixtureunder anaerobic conditions during mixing inhibits the oxidation of thesolid product catalyst material or the anionic component of the secondsalt so that the catalyst material produced by the process containslittle, if any, oxygen other than oxygen present in the anion of thefirst salt. The aqueous mixture of the first and second salts may bemaintained under anaerobic conditions during mixing by conducting themixing in an atmosphere containing little or no oxygen, preferably aninert atmosphere. The mixing of the first and second salts in theaqueous mixture may be conducted under nitrogen gas, argon gas, and/orsteam to maintain anaerobic conditions during the mixing. An inert gas,preferably nitrogen gas or steam, may be continuously injected into theaqueous mixture during mixing to maintain anaerobic conditions and tofacilitate mixing of the first and second salts in the aqueous mixtureand displacement of ammonia gas if the second salt contains an ammoniumcation.

The first and second salts are mixed in the aqueous mixture at atemperature of from 15° C. to 150° C. under anaerobic conditions for aperiod of time sufficient to permit the formation of the catalystcomprised of a plurality of cationic components from the first salt anda plurality of anionic components from the second salt. The first andsecond salts may be mixed in the aqueous mixture for a period of atleast 1 hour, or at least 2 hours, or at least 3 hours, or at least 4hours, or from 1 hour to 10 hours, or from 2 hours to 9 hours, or from 3hours to 8 hours, or from 4 hours to 7 hours to form the catalystmaterial. The first and/or second salt(s) may be added to the aqueousmixture over a period of from 30 minutes to 4 hours while mixing theaqueous mixture, and, after the entirety of the first and second saltshave been mixed into the aqueous mixture, the aqueous mixture may bemixed for at least an additional 1 hour, or 2 hours, or 3 hours or 4hours, or 5 hours to form the catalyst material.

After completing mixing of the aqueous mixture of the first and secondsalts, a solid material is separated from the aqueous mixture to producethe catalyst. The solid catalyst may be separated from the aqueousmixture by any conventional means for separating a solid phase materialfrom a liquid phase material. For example, the solid catalyst may beseparated by allowing the solid to settle from the resulting mixture,preferably for a period of from 1 hour to 16 hours, and separating thesolid from the mixture by vacuum or gravitational filtration or bycentrifugation. To enhance recovery of the solid catalyst, water may beadded to the aqueous mixture prior to allowing the solid to settle.Water may be added to the aqueous mixture in a volume relative to thevolume of the aqueous mixture of from 0.1:1 to 0.75:1. Alternatively,but less preferably, the solid catalyst may be separated from themixture by centrifugation without first allowing the solid to settleand/or without the addition of water. The solid catalyst may also beseparated from the aqueous mixture by spray drying.

The separated solid catalyst may be washed subsequent to separation fromthe aqueous mixture, if desired. The separated catalyst may becontaminated with minor amounts, typically less than 0.5 wt. %, of theanionic component from the first salt and/or the cationic component fromthe second salt. These minor contaminants may be removed from theseparated catalyst by washing the separated catalyst with water.Substantial volumes of water may be used to wash the separated catalystsince the separated catalyst is insoluble in water, and the yield of thecatalyst product will not be significantly affected by the wash.

The optionally washed catalyst may be dried, if desired. The catalystmay be dried by heating the catalyst and/or by holding the catalystunder vacuum. The catalyst may be dried by heating to a temperature offrom 35° C. to 75° C. under anaerobic conditions for a period of timesufficient to dry the catalyst, typically from 12 hours to 5 days. Thecatalyst may be dried by vacuum by holding the catalyst under a vacuumfor a period of from 12 hours to 5 days. Preferably the catalyst isdried by heating to a temperature of from 35° C. to 75° C. under vacuumfor a period of 2 to 4 days.

As described above, the catalyst is comprised of a material that iscomprised of a first metal, a second metal, and sulfur. The first metalof the material of the catalyst is a metal selected from the groupconsisting of copper (Cu), iron (Fe), bismuth (Bi), nickel (Ni), cobalt(Co), silver (Ag), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), tin (Sn), ruthenium (Ru),lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), samarium (Sm), europium(Eu), ytterbium (Yb), lutetium (Lu), dysprosium (Dy), lead (Pb), andantimony (Sb). In a preferred embodiment, the first metal is relativelyelectron-rich, inexpensive, and relatively non-toxic, and preferably thefirst metal is selected to be copper, iron, or bismuth, most preferablycopper. The second metal of the material of the catalyst is a metalselected from the group consisting of molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), tin(Sn), and antimony (Sb), where the second metal is not the same metal asthe first metal, and preferably is molybdenum.

The catalyst material may be comprised of at least three linked chainelements, where the chain elements are comprised of a first chainelement and a second chain element. The first chain element includes thefirst metal and sulfur and has a structure according to formula (I) andthe second chain element includes the second metal and sulfur and has astructure according to formula (II):

where M¹ is the first metal and M² is the second metal. The catalystmaterial comprised of the linked chain elements comprises at least onefirst chain element and at least one second chain element. The chainelements of the catalyst material are linked by bonds between the twosulfur atoms of a chain element and the metal of an adjacent chainelement. A chain element of the catalyst may be linked to one, or two,or three, or four other chain elements, where each chain element may belinked to other chain elements by bonds between the two sulfur atoms ofa chain element and the metal of an adjacent chain element. At leastthree linked chain elements of the catalyst material may be sequentiallylinked in series. At least a portion of the catalyst material containingthe chain elements may be comprised of the first metal and the secondmetal linked by, and bonded to, sulfur atoms according to formula (VII):

where M¹ is the first metal, M² is the second metal, and x is at least2. The catalyst material may be a polythiometallate polymer, where eachmonomer of the polythiometallate polymer is the structure as shown informula (VII) where x=1, and the polythiometallate polymer is thestructure as shown in formula (VII) where x is at least 5.

At least a portion of the catalyst material may be comprised of thefirst metal and second metal, where the first metal is linked to thesecond metal by sulfur atoms as according to formula (XII) or formula(XIII):

where M¹ is the first metal and where M² is the second metal.

The catalyst material may comprise a third chain element comprised ofsulfur and a third metal selected from the group consisting of Cu, Fe,Bi, Ag, Mn, Zn, Ni, Co, Sn, Re, Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt, Ce, La, Ce, Pr, Sm, Eu,Yb, Lu, Dy, Pb, Cd, Sb, and In, where the third metal is not the same asthe first metal or the second metal. The third chain element has astructure according to formula (XIV):

where M³ is the third metal. If the catalyst material contains a thirdchain element, at least a portion of the third chain element of thecatalyst is linked by bonds between the two sulfur atoms of a chainelement and the metal of an adjacent chain element.

At least a portion of the catalyst material may be comprised of thefirst metal, the second metal, and sulfur having a structure accordingto formula (III):

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, and at least oneM is the first metal and at least one M is the second metal. Thecatalyst material as shown in formula (III) may include a third metalselected from the group consisting of Cu, Fe, Bi, Ag, Mn, Zn, Ni, Co,Sn, Re, Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt, Ce, La, Pr, Sm, Eu, Yb, Lu, Dy, Pb, Cd, Sb, andIn, where the third metal is not the same as the first metal or thesecond metal, and where M is either the first metal, or the secondmetal, or the third metal, and at least one M is the first metal, atleast one M is the second metal, and at least one M is the third metal.The portion of the catalyst material comprised of the first metal, thesecond metal, and sulfur may also have a structure according to formula(VIII):

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal and at least one M is the second metal, and x is atleast 2.

At least a portion of the material of the catalyst may be comprised ofthe first metal, the second metal, and sulfur having a structureaccording to formula (IV):

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one NIis the first metal and at least one M is the second metal, and X isselected from the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄),acetylacetonate, acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and NO₃.For example, the material of the catalyst may contain copperthiometallate-sulfate having the structure shown in formula (XV):

where n may be an integer greater than or equal to 1. The material ofthe catalyst as shown in formula (IV) may include a third metal selectedfrom the group consisting of Cu, Fe, Bi, Ag, Mn, Zn, Ni, Co, Sn, Re, Rh,Pd, Ir, Pt, Ce, La, Pr, Sm, Eu, Yb, Lu, Dy, Pb, Cd, Sb, and In, wherethe third metal is not the same as the first metal or the second metal,where M is either the first metal, or the second metal, or the thirdmetal, and at least one M is the first metal, at least one M is thesecond metal, and at least one M is the third metal. The portion of thematerial of the catalyst comprised of the first metal, the second metal,and sulfur may also have a polymeric structure according to formula(IX):

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal and at least one M is the second metal, X is selectedfrom the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄), acetylacetonate,acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and NO₃, and x is at least2 and preferably is at least 5;

At least a portion of the catalyst material may be comprised of thefirst metal, the second metal, and sulfur having a structure accordingto formula (V):

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal and at least one M is the second metal, and X isselected from the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄),acetylacetonate, acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and NO₃.The material of the catalyst as shown in formula (V) may include a thirdmetal selected from the group consisting of Cu, Fe, Bi, Ag, Mn, Zn, Ni,Co, Sn, Re, Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt, Ce, La, Pr, Sm, Eu, Yb, Lu, Dy, Pb, Cd, Sb,and In, where the third metal is not the same as the first metal or thesecond metal, and where M is either the first metal, or the secondmetal, or the third metal, and at least one M is the first metal, atleast one M is the second metal, and at least one M is the third metal.The portion of the catalyst material comprised of the first metal, thesecond metal, and sulfur may also have a polymeric structure accordingto formula (X):

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, and at least oneM is the first metal and at least one M is the second metal, X isselected from the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄),acetylacetonate, acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and NO₃,and x is at least 2 and preferably is at least 5.

At least a portion of the catalyst material may be comprised of thefirst metal, the second metal, and sulfur having a structure accordingto formula (VI):

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal and at least one M is the second metal, and X isselected from the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄),acetylacetonate, acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and NO₃.For example, at least a portion of the catalyst material may have astructure in accordance with formula (XVI):

where X is selected from the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate(C₂O₄), acetylacetonate, acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄,and NO₃, and n is an integer equal to or greater than 1.The catalyst material as shown in formula (VI) may include a third metalselected from the group consisting of Cu, Fe, Bi, Ag, Mn, Zn, Ni, Co,Sn, Re, Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt, Ce, La, Pr, Sm, Eu, Yb, Lu, Dy, Pb, Cd, Sb, andIn, where the third metal is not the same as the first metal or thesecond metal, and where M is either the first metal, or the secondmetal, or the third metal, and at least one M is the first metal, atleast one M is the second metal, and at least one M is the third metal.The portion of the catalyst material comprised of the first metal, thesecond metal, and sulfur may also have a polymeric structure accordingto formula (XI):

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal and at least one M is the second metal, X is selectedfrom the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄), acetylacetonate,acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and NO₃, and x is at least2 and preferably is at least 5.

The first metal may be present in the catalyst in an atomic ratiorelative to the second metal of at least 1:2. The atomic ratio of thefirst metal to the second metal in the catalyst may be greater than 1:2,or at least 2:3, or at least 1:1, or at least 2:1, or at least 3:1, orat least 5:1. It is believed that the first metal contributessignificantly to the catalytic activity of the catalyst in the processof the present invention when the first metal is present in the catalystin an amount relative to the second metal ranging from slightly less ofthe first metal to the second metal to significantly more of the firstmetal to the second metal. Therefore, the first metal may beincorporated in the catalyst in an amount, relative to the second metal,such that the ratio of the first metal to the second metal ranges fromone half to significantly greater than one, and such that the firstmetal is not merely a promoter of the second metal in the catalyst.

The catalyst may contain little or no oxygen. As discussed above, thecatalytic activity of the catalyst in the process of the presentinvention is, in part, believed to be due to the availability ofelectrons from the catalyst. Due to its electronegativity, oxygen tendsto reduce the availability of electrons from the catalyst when it ispresent in the catalyst in appreciable quantities, therefore, thecatalyst preferably contains little or no oxygen. The catalyst, and thematerial of the catalyst, may comprise at most 0.1 wt. %, or at most0.05 wt. %, or at most 0.01 wt. % oxygen as measured by neutronactivation. In a preferred embodiment, oxygen is not detectable in thecatalyst.

The catalyst is preferably substantially non-acidic. The catalyst usedin the process of the present invention may have an acidity as measuredby ammonia chemisorption of at most 200, or at most 100, or at most 50,or at most 25, or at most 10 μmol ammonia per gram of catalyst. Thecatalyst may have an acidity as measured by ammonia chemisorption of 0μmol ammonia per gram of catalyst. The catalyst should be sufficientlynon-acidic to avoid catalyzing the formation of coke. As discussedabove, it is believed that coke formation, in part, is induced by theformation of hydrocarbon cation radicals upon cracking ahydrocarbon—which is promoted by catalysts having significant acidity.Therefore, it is preferred that the catalyst have little or no acidityto avoid selectively directing cracking reactions in a manner thatpromotes the formation of coke.

The catalyst may have a significant degree of porosity, pore volume, andsurface area. The catalyst may have a pore size distribution, where thepore size distribution has a mean pore diameter and/or a median porediameter of from 50 angstroms to 1000 angstroms, or from 60-350angstroms. The catalyst may have a pore volume of at least 0.2 cm³/g, orat least 0.25 cm³/g, or at least 0.3 cm³/g, or at least 0.35 cm³/g, orat least 0.4 cm³/g. The catalyst may have a BET surface area of at least50 m²/g, or at least 100 m², and up to 500 m²/g or up to 400 m²/g.

The relatively large surface area of the catalyst, particularly relativeto conventional non-supported bulk metal catalysts (e.g. catalystscomprising at least 50 wt. % active metals), is believed to be due, inpart, to the porosity of the catalyst imparted by at least a portion ofthe catalyst being formed of abutting or adjoining linked tetrahedrallystructured atomic formations of the first metal and sulfur and thesecond metal and sulfur, where the tetrahedrally structured atomicformations may be edge-bonded. Interstices or holes that form the porestructure of the catalyst may be present in the catalyst as a result ofthe bonding patterns of the tetrahedral structures. The catalyst,therefore, may be highly catalytically active since 1) the catalyst hasa relatively large surface area; and 2) the surface area of the catalystis formed substantially, or entirely, of the elements that providecatalytic activity—the first metal, the second metal, and sulfur.

The catalyst may be a solid particulate substance having a particle sizedistribution with a relatively small mean and/or median particle size,where the solid catalyst particles preferably are nanometer sizeparticles. The catalyst may have a particle size distribution with amedian and/or mean particle size of at least 50 nm, or at least 75 nm,or up to 1 μm, or up to 750 nm; or up to 500 nm, or from 50 nm up to 1μm. The solid particulate catalyst having a particle size distributionwith a large quantity of small particles, for example having a meanand/or median particle size of up to 1 μm, has a large aggregate surfacearea since little of the catalyst material is located within theinterior of a particle. The particulate catalyst having a particle sizedistribution with a large quantity of small particles, therefore, mayprovide a relatively high degree catalytic activity due to the surfacearea of the catalyst available for catalytic activity. The catalyst usedin the process of the invention may be a solid particulate substancepreferably having a particle size distribution with a mean and/or medianparticle size of up to 1 μm, preferably having a pore size distributionwith a mean pore diameter and/or median pore diameter of from 50angstroms to 1000 angstroms, or from 60 angstroms to 350 angstroms,preferably having a porosity of at least 0.2 cm³/g, and preferablyhaving a BET surface area of at least 50 m²/g.

The solid particulate catalyst may be insoluble in thehydrocarbon-containing feed and in a hydrocarbon-depleted residuumformed by the process of the present invention. The solid particulatecatalyst having a particle size distribution of at least 50 nm may beinsoluble in the hydrocarbon-containing feed and thehydrocarbon-depleted residuum due, in part, to the size of theparticles, which may be too large to be solvated by thehydrocarbon-containing feed or the residuum. Use of a solid particulatecatalyst which is insoluble in the hydrocarbon-containing feed and thehydrocarbon-depleted residuum may be desirable in the process of thepresent invention so that the catalyst may be separated from theresiduum formed by the process, and subsequently regenerated for reusein the process.

The material of the catalyst may contain less than 0.5 wt. % of ligandsother than the sulfur-metal bonded complexes between sulfur and thefirst metal and between sulfur and the second metal. Ligands, other thanthe sulfur-metal bonded complexes with the first metal and the secondmetal, may not be present in significant quantities in the materialsince they may limit the particle size of the material of the catalystto less than 50 nm, for example, by inhibiting the first metal and thesecond metal from forming sulfur-bridged chains.

Process for Cracking a Hydrocarbon-Containing Feedstock

In the process of the present invention, the catalyst prepared accordingto the method described above, the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, andhydrogen are mixed at a temperature selected from 375° C. to 500° C. anda total pressure selected from 6.9 MPa to 27.5 MPa, where thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock, catalyst, and hydrogen form a mixtureupon mixing. The catalyst, hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, andhydrogen may be mixed by contact with each other in a mixing zonemaintained at a temperature of from 375° C. to 500° C. and a pressure of6.9 MPa to 27.5 MPa. A hydrocarbon-containing product that comprises oneor more hydrocarbon compounds that are liquid at STP is separated fromthe mixture in the mixing zone.

In an embodiment of the process of the invention, as shown in FIG. 1,the mixing zone 1 may be in a reactor 3, where the conditions of thereactor 3 may be controlled to maintain the temperature and pressure inthe mixing zone 1 at 375° C. to 500° C. and 6.9 MPa to 27.5 MPa,respectively. The hydrocarbon-containing feedstock may be providedcontinuously or intermittently from a feed supply 2 to the mixing zone 1in the reactor 3 through feed inlet 5. The hydrocarbon-containingfeedstock may be preheated to a temperature of from 100° C. to 350° C.by a heating element 4, which may be a heat exchanger, prior to beingfed to the mixing zone 1. Hydrogen may be provided continuously orintermittently to the mixing zone 1 of the reactor 3 through hydrogeninlet line 7, or, alternatively, may be mixed together with thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock, and optionally the catalyst, andprovided to the mixing zone 1 through the feed inlet 5.

The catalyst may be located in the mixing zone 1 in the reactor 3 or maybe provided to the mixing zone 1 in the reactor 3 during the process ofthe present invention. The catalyst may be located in the mixing zone 1in a catalyst bed. Preferably, however, the catalyst is provided to themixing zone 1 during the process, or, if located in the mixing zoneinitially, may be blended with the hydrocarbon-containing feed andhydrogen, and is not present in a catalyst bed. The catalyst may beprovided to the mixing zone 1 together with the hydrocarbon-containingfeedstock through feed inlet 5, where the catalyst may be dispersed inthe hydrocarbon-containing feedstock prior to feeding the mixture to themixing zone 1 through the feed inlet 5. Alternatively, the catalyst maybe provided to the mixing zone 1 through a catalyst inlet 9, where thecatalyst may be mixed with sufficient hydrocarbon-containing feedstockor another fluid, for example a hydrocarbon-containing fluid, to enablethe catalyst to be delivered to the mixing zone 1 through the catalystinlet 9.

The catalyst is provided to be mixed with the hydrocarbon-containingfeedstock and the hydrogen in the mixing zone 1 in a sufficient amountto catalytically crack the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock. Thecatalyst may be provided for mixing with the hydrocarbon-containingfeedstock and hydrogen in an amount of from 0.125 g to 5 g of catalystper kg of hydrocarbon-containing feedstock. Alternatively, the catalystmay be provided for mixing with the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock andhydrogen in an amount of from 0.125 g to 50 g of catalyst per kg ofhydrocarbons in the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock having a boilingpoint of at least 538° C. at a pressure of 0.101 MPa as determined inaccordance with ASTM Method D5307.

The hydrocarbon-containing feedstock may be provided to the mixing zone1 of the reactor 3 at a rate of at least 400 kg/hr per m³ of the mixturevolume within mixing zone 1 of the reactor 3. The mixture volume isdefined herein as the combined volume of the catalyst(s), thehydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum (as defined herein), and thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock in the mixing zone 1, where thehydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum may contribute no volume to themixture volume (i.e. at the start of the process before ahydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum has been produced in the mixing zone1), and where the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock may contribute novolume to the mixture volume (i.e. after initiation of the processduring a period between intermittent addition of freshhydrocarbon-containing feedstock into the mixing zone 1). The mixturevolume within the mixing zone 1 may be affected by 1) the rate ofaddition of the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock into the mixing zone 1;2) the rate of removal of the vapor from the reactor 3; and, optionally,3) the rate at which a bleed stream of the hydrocarbon-depleted feedresiduum, catalyst(s), and hydrocarbon-containing feedstock is separatedfrom and recycled to the reactor 3, as described in further detailbelow. The hydrocarbon-containing feedstock may be provided to themixing zone 1 of the reactor 3 at a rate of at least 500, or at least600, or at least 700, or at least 800, or at least 900, or at least 1000kg/hr per m³ of the mixture volume within the mixing zone 1 up to 5000kg/hr per m³ of the mixture volume within the mixing zone 1.

Preferably, the mixture volume of the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock,the hydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum, and the catalyst(s) ismaintained within the mixing zone within a selected range of the reactorvolume by selecting 1) the rate at which the hydrocarbon-containingfeedstock is provided to the mixing zone 1; and/or 2) the rate at whicha bleed stream is removed from and recycled to the mixing zone 1;and/or, optionally, 3) the temperature and pressure within the mixingzone 1 and the reactor 3 to provide a selected rate of vapor removalfrom the mixing zone 1 and the reactor 3. The combined volume of thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock and the catalyst(s) initially providedto the mixing zone 1 at the start of the process define an initialmixture volume, and the amount of hydrocarbon-containing feedstock andthe amount of the catalyst(s) initially provided to the mixing zone 1may be selected to provide an initial mixture volume of from 5% to 97%of the reactor volume, preferably from 30% to 75% of the reactor volume.The rate at which the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock is provided tothe mixing zone 1 and/or the rate at which a bleed stream is removedfrom and recycled to the mixing zone 1 and/or the rate at which vapor isremoved from the reactor 3 may be selected to maintain the mixturevolume of the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, the hydrocarbon-depletedfeed residuum, and the catalyst(s) at a level of at least 10%, or atleast 25%, or within 90%, or within 70%, or within 50% of the initialmixture volume during the process.

The hydrocarbon-containing feedstock may be provided to the mixing zone1 at such relatively high rates for reacting a feedstock containingrelatively large quantities of heavy, high molecular weight hydrocarbonsdue to the inhibition of coke formation in the process of the presentinvention. Conventional processes for cracking heavy hydrocarbonaceousfeedstocks are typically operated at rates on the order of 10 to 300kg/hr per m³ of reaction volume so that the conventional crackingprocess may be conducted either 1) at sufficiently low temperature toavoid excessive coke-make to maximize yield of desirable crackedhydrocarbons; or 2) at higher temperatures with significant quantitiesof coke production, where the high levels of solids produced impedesoperation of the process at a high rate.

Hydrogen may be provided to the mixing zone 1 of the reactor 3 at a ratesufficient to hydrogenate hydrocarbons cracked in the process. Thehydrogen may be provided to the mixing zone 1 in a ratio relative to thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock provided to the mixing zone 1 of from 1Nm³/m³ to 16,100 Nm³/m³ (5.6 SCFB to 90160 SCFB), or from 2 Nm³/m³ to8000 Nm³/m³ (11.2 SCFB to 44800 SCFB), or from 3 Nm³/m³ to 4000 Nm³/m³(16.8 SCFB to 22400 SCFB), or from 5 Nm³/m³ to 320 Nm³/m³ (28 SCFB to1792 SCFB). The hydrogen partial pressure in the mixing zone 1 may bemaintained in a pressure range of from 2.1 MPa to 27.5 MPa, or from 5MPa to 20 MPa, or from 10 MPa to 15 MPa.

The catalyst, the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, and the hydrogen maybe mixed by being blended into an intimate admixture in the mixing zone1. The catalyst, hydrocarbon-containing feedstock and the hydrogen maybe blended in the mixing zone 1, for example, by stirring a mixture ofthe components, for example by a mechanical stirring device located inthe mixing zone 1. The catalyst, hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, andhydrogen may also be mixed in the mixing zone 1 by blending thecomponents prior to providing the components to the mixing zone 1 andinjecting the blended components into the mixing zone 1 through one ormore nozzles which may act as the feed inlet 5. The catalyst,hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, and hydrogen may also be blended inthe mixing zone 1 by blending the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock andcatalyst and injecting the mixture into the mixing zone 1 through one ormore feed inlet nozzles positioned with respect to the hydrogen inletline 7 such that the mixture is blended with hydrogen entering themixing zone 1 through the hydrogen inlet line 7. Baffles may be includedin the reactor 3 in the mixing zone 1 to facilitate blending thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock, catalyst, and hydrogen. Lesspreferably, the catalyst is present in the mixing zone 1 in a catalystbed, and the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, hydrogen, and catalystare mixed by bringing the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock and hydrogensimultaneously into contact with the catalyst in the catalyst bed.

The temperature and pressure conditions in the mixing zone 1 aremaintained so that heavy hydrocarbons in the hydrocarbon-containingfeedstock may be cracked. The temperature in the mixing zone 1 ismaintained from 375° C. to 500° C. Preferably, the mixing zone 1 ismaintained at a temperature of from 425° C. to 500° C., or from 430° C.to 500° C., or from 440° C. to 500° C., or from 450° C. to 500° C.Higher temperatures may be preferred in the process of the presentinvention since 1) the rate of conversion of the hydrocarbon-containingfeedstock to a hydrocarbon-containing product increases withtemperature; and 2) the present process inhibits or prevents theformation of coke, even at temperatures of 430° C. or greater, whichtypically occurs rapidly in conventional cracking processes attemperatures of 430° C. or greater.

Mixing the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, the catalyst, and hydrogenin the mixing zone 1 at a temperature of from 375° C. to 500° C. and atotal pressure of from 6.9 MPa to 27.5 MPa produces a vapor comprised ofhydrocarbons that are vaporizable at the temperature and pressure withinthe mixing zone 1. The vapor may be comprised of hydrocarbons presentinitially in the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock that vaporize at thetemperature and pressure within the mixing zone 1 and hydrocarbons thatare not present initially in the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock butare produced by cracking and hydrogenating hydrocarbons initially in thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock that were not vaporizable at thetemperature and pressure within the mixing zone 1.

At least a portion of the vapor comprised of hydrocarbons that arevaporizable at the temperature and pressure within the mixing zone 1 maybe continuously or intermittently separated from the mixture ofhydrocarbon-containing feedstock, hydrogen, and catalyst since the morevolatile vapor physically separates from the hydrocarbon-containingfeedstock, catalyst, and hydrogen mixture. The vapor may also containhydrogen gas, which also separates from the mixture, and hydrogensulfide gas, which forms as a results of cracking sulfur-containingheteroatoms.

Separation of the vapor from the mixture leaves a hydrocarbon-depletedfeed residuum from which the hydrocarbons present in the vapor have beenremoved. The hydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum is comprised ofhydrocarbons that are liquid at the temperature and pressure within themixing zone 1. The hydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum may also becomprised of solids such as metals freed from cracked hydrocarbons andminor amounts of coke. The hydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum maycontain little coke or proto-coke since the process of the presentinvention inhibits the generation of coke. The hydrocarbon-depleted feedresiduum may contain, per metric ton of hydrocarbon feedstock providedto the mixing zone 1, at most 50 kg, or less than 30 kg, or at most 20kg, or at most 10 kg, or at most 5 kg of hydrocarbons insoluble intoluene as measured by ASTM Method D4072.

At least a portion of the hydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum is retainedin the mixing zone 1 while the vapor is separated from the mixing zone1. The portion of the hydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum retained in themixing zone 1 may be subject to further cracking to produce more vaporthat may be separated from the mixing zone 1 and then from the reactor 3from which the liquid hydrocarbon-containing product may be produced bycooling. Hydrocarbon-containing feedstock and hydrogen may becontinuously or intermittently provided to the mixing zone 1 at therates described above and mixed with the catalyst(s) and thehydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum retained in the mixing zone 1 toproduce further vapor comprised of hydrocarbons that are vaporizable atthe temperature and pressure within the mixing zone 1 for separationfrom the mixing zone 1 and the reactor 3.

At least a portion of the vapor separated from the mixture of thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock, hydrogen, and catalyst may becontinuously or intermittently separated from the mixing zone 1 whileretaining the hydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum, catalyst, and anyfresh hydrocarbon-containing feedstock in the mixing zone 1. At least aportion of the vapor separated from the mixing zone 1 may becontinuously or intermittently separated from the reactor 3 through areactor product outlet 11. The reactor 3 is preferably configured andoperated so that substantially only vapors and gases may exit thereactor product outlet 11, where the vapor product exiting the reactor 3comprises at most 5 wt. %, or at most 3 wt. %, or at most 1 wt. %, or atmost 0.5 wt. %, or at most 0.1 wt. %, or at most 0.01 wt. %, or at most0.001 wt. % solids and liquids at the temperature and pressure at whichthe vapor product exits the reactor 3.

A stripping gas may be injected into the reactor 3 over the mixing zone1 to facilitate separation of the vapor from the mixing zone 1. Thestripping gas may be heated to a temperature at or above the temperaturewithin the mixing zone 1 to assist in separating the vapor from themixing zone 1. In an embodiment of the process, the stripping gas may behydrogen gas and/or hydrogen sulfide gas.

As shown in FIG. 2, the reactor 3 may be comprised of a mixing zone 1, adisengagement zone 21, and a vapor/gas zone 23. The vapor comprised ofhydrocarbons that are vaporizable at the temperature and pressure withinthe mixing zone 1 may separate from the mixture of hydrocarbon-depletedresiduum, catalyst, hydrogen, and fresh hydrocarbon-containing feed, ifany, in mixing zone 1 into the disengagement zone 21. A stripping gassuch as hydrogen may be injected into the disengagement zone 21 tofacilitate separation of the vapor from the mixing zone 1. Some liquidsand solids may be entrained by the vapor as it is separated from themixing zone 1 into the disengagement zone 21, so that the disengagementzone 21 contains a mixture of vapor and liquids, and potentially solids.At least a portion of the vapor separates from the disengagement zone 21into the vapor/gas zone 23, where the vapor separating from thedisengagement zone 21 into the vapor/gas zone 23 contains little or noliquids or solids at the temperature and pressure within the vapor/gaszone. At least a portion of the vapor in the vapor/gas zone 23 exits thereactor 3 through the reactor product outlet 11.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, in the process of the present invention,the hydrocarbons in the hydrocarbon-containing feed are contacted andmixed with the catalyst and hydrogen in the mixing zone 1 of the reactoronly as long as necessary to be vaporized and separated from themixture, and are retained in the reactor 3 only as long as necessary tobe vaporized and exit the reactor product outlet 11. Low molecularweight hydrocarbons having a low boiling point may be vaporized almostimmediately upon being introduced into the mixing zone 1 when the mixingzone 1 is maintained at a temperature of 375° C. to 500° C. and a totalpressure of from 6.9 MPa to 27.5 MPa. These hydrocarbons may beseparated rapidly from the reactor 3. High molecular weight hydrocarbonshaving a high boiling point, for example hydrocarbons having a boilingpoint greater than 538° C. at 0.101 MPa, may remain in the mixing zone 1until they are cracked into hydrocarbons having a boiling point lowenough to be vaporized at the temperature and pressure in the mixingzone 1 and to exit the reactor 3. The hydrocarbons of thehydrocarbon-containing feed, therefore, are contacted and mixed with thecatalyst and hydrogen in the mixing zone 1 of the reactor 3 for avariable time period, depending on the boiling point of the hydrocarbonsunder the conditions in the mixing zone 1 and the reactor 3.

The rate of the process of producing the vapor product from thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock may be adjusted by selection of thetemperature and/or pressure in the reactor 3, and particularly in themixing zone 1, within the temperature range of 375° C.-500° C. andwithin the pressure range of 6.9 MPa-27.5 MPa. Increasing thetemperature and/or decreasing the pressure in the mixing zone 1 permitsthe hydrocarbon-containing feedstock to be provided to the reactor 3 atan increased rate and the vapor product to be removed from the reactor 3at an increased rate since the hydrocarbons in thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock may experience a decreased residencetime in the reactor 3 due to higher cracking activity and/or fastervapor removal. Conversely, decreasing the temperature and/or increasingthe pressure in the mixing zone 1 may reduce the rate at which thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock may be provided to the reactor 3 andthe vapor product may be removed from the reactor 3 since thehydrocarbons in the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock may experience anincreased residence time in the reactor 3 due to lower cracking activityand/or slower vapor removal.

As a result of the inhibition and/or prevention of the formation of cokein the process, the hydrocarbons in the hydrocarbon-containing feed maybe contacted and mixed with the catalyst and hydrogen in the mixing zone1 at a temperature of 375° C. to 500° C. and a total pressure of 6.9 MPato 27.5 MPa for as long as necessary to be vaporized, or to be cracked,hydrogenated, and vaporized. It is believed that high boiling, highmolecular weight hydrocarbons may remain in the mixing zone 1 in thepresence of cracked hydrocarbons since the catalyst promotes theformation of hydrocarbon radical anions upon cracking that react withhydrogen to form stable hydrocarbon products rather than hydrocarbonradical cations that react with other hydrocarbons to form coke. Cokeformation is also avoided because the cracked hydrogenated hydrocarbonspreferentially exit the mixing zone 1 as a vapor rather remaining in themixing zone 1 to combine with hydrocarbon radicals in the mixing zone 1to form coke or proto-coke.

At least a portion of the vapor separated from the mixing zone 1 andseparated from the reactor 3 may be condensed and collected apart fromthe mixing zone 1 to produce the liquid hydrocarbon-containing product.Referring now to FIG. 1, the portion of the vapor separated from thereactor 3 may be provided to a condenser 13 wherein at least a portionof the vapor separated from the reactor 3 may be condensed to producethe hydrocarbon-containing product that is comprised of hydrocarbonsthat are a liquid at STP. A portion of the vapor separated from thereactor 3 may be passed through a heat exchanger 15 to cool the vaporprior to providing the vapor to the condenser 13.

Condensation of the liquid hydrocarbon-containing product from the vaporseparated from the reactor 3 may also produce a non-condensable gas thatmay be comprised of hydrocarbons having a carbon number from 1 to 6,hydrogen, and hydrogen sulfide. The condensed hydrocarbon-containingliquid product may be separated from the non-condensable gas through acondenser liquid product outlet 17 and stored in a product receiver 18,and the non-condensable gas may be separated from the condenser 13through a non-condensable gas outlet 19 and passed through an amine orcaustic scrubber 20 and recovered through a gas product outlet 22.

Alternatively, referring now to FIG. 2, the portion of the vaporseparated from the reactor 3 may be provided to a high pressureseparator 12 to separate a liquid hydrocarbon-containing product fromgases not condensable at the temperature and pressure within the highpressure separator 12, and the liquid hydrocarbon-containing productcollected from the high pressure separator may be provided through line16 to a low pressure separator 14 operated at a pressure less than thehigh pressure separator 12 to separate the liquid hydrocarbon-containingproduct from gases that are not condensable at the temperature andpressure at which the low pressure separator 14 is operated. Thevapor/gas exiting the reactor 3 from the reactor product outlet 11 maybe cooled prior to being provided to the high pressure separator 12 bypassing the vapor/gas through heat exchanger 15. The condensedhydrocarbon-containing liquid product may be separated from thenon-condensable gas in the low pressure separator through a low pressureseparator liquid product outlet 10 and stored in a product receiver 18.The non-condensable gas may be separated from the high pressureseparator 12 through a high pressure non-condensable gas outlet 24 andfrom the low pressure separator 14 through a low pressurenon-condensable gas outlet 26. The non-condensable gas streams may becombined in line 28 and passed through an amine or caustic scrubber 20and recovered through a gas product outlet 22.

Alternatively, the vapor separated from the mixing zone 1 and from thereactor 3 may be further hydroprocessed without condensing thehydrocarbon-containing product. For example, the vapor separated fromthe reactor may be hydrotreated to reduce sulfur, nitrogen, and olefinsin the hydrocarbon-containing product by passing the vapor from thereactor 3 to a hydroprocessing reactor, where the vapor may be contactedwith a conventional hydroprocessing catalyst and hydrogen at atemperature of from 260° C. to 425° C. and a total pressure of from 3.4MPa to 27.5 MPa.

A portion of the hydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum and catalyst(s) maybe separated from the mixing zone 1 to remove solids including metalsand hydrocarbonaceous solids including coke from thehydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum and to regenerate the catalyst(s).Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the reactor 3 may include a bleed streamoutlet 25 for removal of a stream of hydrocarbon-depleted feed resdiuumand catalyst(s) from the mixing zone 1 and the reactor 3. The bleedstream outlet 25 may be operatively connected to the mixing zone 1 ofthe reactor 3.

A portion of the hydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum and the catalyst(s)may be removed together from the mixing zone 1 and the reactor 3 throughthe bleed stream outlet 25 while the process is proceeding. Solids andthe catalyst(s) may be separated from a liquid portion of thehydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum in a solid-liquid separator 30. Thesolid-liquid separator 30 may be a filter or a centrifuge. The liquidportion of the hydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum may be recycled backinto the mixing zone 1 via a recycle inlet 32 for further processing ormay be combined with the hydrocarbon-containing feed and recycled intothe mixing zone 1 through the feed inlet 5.

In a preferred embodiment, hydrogen sulfide is mixed with thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock, hydrogen, and the catalyst in themixing zone 1 of the reactor 3. The hydrogen sulfide may be providedcontinuously or intermittently to the mixing zone 1 of the reactor 3 asa liquid or a gas. The hydrogen sulfide may be mixed with thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock and provided to the mixing zone 1 withthe hydrocarbon-containing feedstock through the feed inlet 5.Alternatively, the hydrogen sulfide may be mixed with hydrogen andprovided to the mixing zone 1 through the hydrogen inlet line 7.Alternatively, the hydrogen sulfide may be provided to the mixing zone 1through a hydrogen sulfide inlet line 27.

Although the process of the invention is not to be limited thereby, itis believed that the hydrogen sulfide acts as a further catalyst in thecracking of hydrocarbons in the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock in thepresence of hydrogen and the catalyst comprised of the first metal,second metal, and sulfur. Hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen each may act asan atomic hydrogen donor to a cracked hydrocarbon radical anion toproduce a stable hydrocarbon having a smaller molecular weight than thehydrocarbon from which the hydrocarbon radical was derived. Hydrogen,however, may only act as an atomic hydrogen donor to a crackedhydrocarbon radical at or near the catalyst surface. Hydrogen sulfide,however, may act as a hydrogen donor significantly further from thecatalyst surface, and, after donation of a hydrogen atom to a crackedhydrocarbon radical, may accept a hydrogen atom from hydrogen at or nearthe surface of the catalyst. The hydrogen sulfide, therefore, may act asan atomic hydrogen shuttle to provide atomic hydrogen to a crackedhydrocarbon radical at a distance from the catalyst. Furthermore, thethiol group remaining after hydrogen sulfide has provided a hydrogenatom to a cracked hydrocarbon radical may be provided to anotherhydrocarbon radical, thereby forming a meta-stable thiol-containinghydrocarbon. This may be described chemically as follows:R—C—C—R+heat+catalyst⇄R—C.+.C—R  1.(catalyst=thiometallate catalyst)R—C.+H₂S⇄R—CH+.SH  2.C—R+.SH⇄R—C—SH  3.R—C—SH+H₂⇄RCH+H₂S  4.

The thiol of the meta-stable thiol-containing hydrocarbon may bereplaced by a hydrogen atom from either another hydrogen sulfidemolecule or hydrogen, or may react intramolecularly to form a thiophenering and subsequently be vaporized and separated from the reactor as ahydrocarbon-containing product. The hydrogen sulfide may direct theselectivity of the process away from producing coke by providinghydrogen at an increased rate to the cracked hydrocarbon radicals and byproviding a thiol to the cracked hydrocarbon radicals—thereby inhibitingthe cracked hydrocarbon radicals from agglomerating with otherhydrocarbons.

It is believed that hydrogen sulfide lowers the activation energy tocrack hydrocarbons in the hydrocarbon-containing feed stock, therebyincreasing the rate of the reaction. The rate of the process, inparticular the rate that the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock may beprovided to the mixing zone 1 for cracking and cracked product may beremoved from the reactor 3, therefore, may be greatly increased with theuse of significant quantities of hydrogen sulfide in the process. Forexample, the rate of the process may be increased by at least 1.5 times,or by at least 2 times, the rate of the process in the absence ofsignificant quantities of hydrogen sulfide.

The hydrogen sulfide provided to be mixed with thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock, hydrogen, and the catalyst may beprovided in an amount effective to increase the rate of the crackingreaction. In order to increase the rate of the cracking reaction,hydrogen sulfide may be provided in an amount on a mole ratio basisrelative to hydrogen provided to be mixed with thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock and catalyst, of at least 0.5 mole ofhydrogen sulfide per 9.5 moles hydrogen, where the combined hydrogensulfide and hydrogen partial pressures are maintained to provide atleast 60%, or at least 70%, or at least 80%, or at least 90%, or atleast 95% of the total pressure in the reactor. The hydrogen sulfide maybe provided in an amount on a mole ratio basis relative to the hydrogenprovided of at least 1:9, or at least 1.5:8.5, or at least 2.5:7.5, orat least 3:7 or at least 3.5:6.5, or at least 4:6, up to 1:1, where thecombined hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen partial pressures are maintainedto provide at least 60%, or at least 70%, or at least 80%, or at least90%, or at least 95% of the total pressure in the reactor. The hydrogensulfide partial pressure in the reactor may be maintained in a pressurerange of from 0.4 MPa to 13.8 MPa, or from 2 MPa to 10 MPa, or from 3MPa to 7 MPa.

The combined partial pressure of the hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen inthe reactor may be maintained to provide at least 60% of the totalpressure in the reactor, where the hydrogen sulfide partial pressure ismaintained at a level of at least 5% of the hydrogen partial pressure.Preferably, the combined partial pressure of the hydrogen sulfide andhydrogen in the reactor is maintained to provide at least 70%, or atleast 75%, or at least 80%, or at least 90%, or at least 95% of thetotal pressure in the reactor, where the hydrogen sulfide partialpressure is maintained at a level of at least 5% of the hydrogen partialpressure. Other gases may be present in the reactor in minor amountsthat provide a pressure contributing to the total pressure in thereactor. For example, a non-condensable gas produced in the vapor alongwith the hydrocarbon-containing product may be separated from thehydrocarbon-containing product and recycled back into the mixing zone,where the non-condensable gas may comprise hydrocarbon gases such asmethane, ethane, and propane as well as hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen.

The vapor separated from the mixing zone 1 and from the reactor 3through the reactor product outlet 11 may contain hydrogen sulfide. Thehydrogen sulfide in the vapor product may be separated from thehydrocarbon-containing liquid product in the condenser 13 (FIG. 1) or inthe high and low pressure separators 12 and 14 (FIG. 2), where thehydrogen sulfide may form a portion of the non-condensable gas. Whenhydrogen sulfide is provided to the mixing zone 1 in the process, it ispreferable to condense the hydrocarbon-containing liquid product at atemperature of from 60° C. to 93° C. (140° F.-200° F.) so that hydrogensulfide is separated from the hydrocarbon-containing liquid product withthe non-condensable gas rather than condensing with the liquidhydrocarbon-containing product. The non-condensable gas including thehydrogen sulfide may be recovered from the condenser 13 through the gasproduct outlet 19 (FIG. 1) or from the high pressure separator 12through high pressure separator gas outlet 24 and the low pressureseparator gas outlet 26 (FIG. 2). The hydrogen sulfide may be separatedfrom the other components of the non-condensable gas by treatment of thenon-condensable gas to recover the hydrogen sulfide. For example, thenon-condensable gas may be scrubbed with an amine solution in thescrubber 20 to separate the hydrogen sulfide from the other componentsof the non-condensable gas. The hydrogen sulfide may then be recoveredand recycled back into the mixing zone 1.

The process of the present invention may be effected for a substantialperiod of time on a continuous or semi-continuous basis, in part becausethe process generates little or no coke. The hydrocarbon-containingfeedstock, hydrogen, catalyst, and hydrogen sulfide (if used in theprocess) may be continuously or intermittently provided to the mixingzone 1 in the reactor 3 and mixed in the mixing zone 1 at a temperatureof from 375° C.-500° C. and a total pressure of from 6.9 MPa-27.5 MPafor a period of at least 40 hours, or at least 100 hours, or at least250 hours, or at least 500 hours, or at least 750 hours to generate thevapor comprised of hydrocarbons that are vaporizable at the temperatureand pressure in the mixing zone 1 and the hydrocarbon-depleted residuum,as described above. The vapor may be continuously or intermittentlyseparated from the mixing zone 1 and the reactor 3 over substantiallyall of the time period that the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock,catalyst, hydrogen, and hydrogen sulfide, if any, are mixed in themixing zone 1. Fresh hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, hydrogen, andhydrogen sulfide, if used in the process, may be blended with thehydrocarbon-depleted residuum in the mixing zone 1 over the course ofthe time period of the reaction as needed. In a preferred embodiment,fresh hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, hydrogen, and hydrogen sulfide,if any, are provided continuously to the mixing zone 1 oversubstantially all of the time period the reaction is effected. Solidsmay be removed from the mixing zone 1 continuously or intermittentlyover the time period the process is run by separating a bleed stream ofthe hydrocarbon-containing feed residuum from the mixing zone 1 and thereactor 3, removing the solids from the bleed stream, and recycling thebleed stream from which the solids have been removed back into themixing zone 1 as described above.

The process of the present invention may produce, in part, ahydrocarbon-containing product that is a liquid at STP. Thehydrocarbon-containing product contains less than 3 wt. %, or at most 2wt. %, or at most 1 wt. %, or at most 0.5 wt. % of hydrocarbons having aboiling point of greater than 538° C. as determined in accordance withASTM Method D5307. Furthermore, the hydrocarbon-containing productcontains at least 80%, or at least 85%, or at least 90%, or at least95%, or at least 97% of the atomic carbon present in thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock. Therefore, when the process of thepresent invention is utilized, most of the hydrocarbons in thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock may be recovered in thehydrocarbon-containing product that is liquid at STP, and little of thehydrocarbons in the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock are converted tocoke or gas.

The hydrocarbon-containing product may contain VGO hydrocarbons,distillate hydrocarbons, and naphtha hydrocarbons. Thehydrocarbon-containing product may contain, per gram, at least 0.05grams, or at least 0.1 grams of hydrocarbons having a boiling point fromthe initial boiling point of the hydrocarbon-containing product up to204° C. (400° F.). The hydrocarbon-containing product may also contain,per gram, at least 0.1 grams, or at least 0.15 grams of hydrocarbonshaving a boiling point of from 204° C. (400° F.) up to 260° C. (500°F.). The hydrocarbon-containing product may also contain, per gram, atleast 0.25 grams, or at least 0.3 grams, or at least 0.35 grams ofhydrocarbons having a boiling point of from 260° C. (500° F.) up to 343°C. (650° F.). The hydrocarbon-containing product may also contain, pergram, at least 0.3 grams, or at least 0.35 grams, or at least 0.4, or atleast 0.45 grams of hydrocarbons having a boiling point of from 343° C.(500° F.) up to 510° C. (950° F.). The relative amounts of hydrocarbonswithin each boiling range and the boiling range distribution of thehydrocarbons may be determined in accordance with ASTM Method D5307.

The hydrocarbon-containing product produced by the process of thepresent invention may contain significant amounts of sulfur. Thehydrocarbon-containing product may contain, per gram, at least 0.0005gram of sulfur or at least 0.001 gram of sulfur. The sulfur content ofthe hydrocarbon-containing product may be determined in accordance withASTM Method D4294. The sulfur-containing hydrocarbon compounds in thehydrocarbon-containing product may be primarily benzothiopheniccompounds. In the hydrocarbon-containing product, at least 70 wt. % ofthe sulfur may be contained benzothiophenic compounds. At least 75 wt. %or at least 80 wt. %, or at least 85 wt. % of the sulfur in thehydrocarbon-containing product may be contained in benzothiopheniccompounds. The amount of sulfur in benzothiophenic compounds in thehydrocarbon-containing product relative to the amount of sulfur in allsulfur containing compounds in the hydrocarbon-containing product may bedetermined by sulfur chemiluminscence two dimensional gas chromatography(GC×GC-SCD).

The hydrocarbon-containing product produced by the process of thepresent invention may contain, per gram, at least 0.0005 gram or atleast 0.001 gram of nitrogen as determined in accordance with ASTMMethod D5762. The hydrocarbon-containing product may have a relativelylow ratio of basic nitrogen compounds to other nitrogen containingcompounds therein. The nitrogen may be contained in hydrocarboncompounds, where the nitrogen containing hydrocarbon compounds in thehydrocarbon-containing product may be primarily carbazolic compounds andacridinic compounds. In the hydrocarbon-containing product at least 70wt. %, or at least 75 wt. %, or at least 80 wt. %, or at least 85 wt. %of the nitrogen in the hydrocarbon-containing product may be containedin carbazolic compounds and acridinic compounds. The amount of nitrogenin carbazolic and acridinic compounds relative to the amount of nitrogenin all nitrogen containing compounds in the hydrocarbon-containingproduct may be determined by nitrogen chemiluminscence two dimensionalgas chromatography (GC×GC-NCD).

The hydrocarbon-containing product produced by the process of thepresent invention may contain significant quantities of aromatichydrocarbon compounds. The hydrocarbon-containing product may contain,per gram, at least 0.3 gram, or at least 0.35 gram, or at least 0.4gram, or at least 0.45 gram, or at least 0.5 gram of aromatichydrocarbon compounds.

The hydrocarbon-containing product of the process of the presentinvention may contain relatively few polyaromatic hydrocarbon compoundscontaining two or more aromatic ring structures (e.g. naphthalene,benzothiophene, bi-phenyl, quinoline, anthracene, phenanthrene,di-benzothiophene) relative to mono-aromatic hydrocarbon compounds (e.g.benzene, toluene, pyridine). The mono-aromatic hydrocarbon compounds inthe hydrocarbon-containing product may be present in thehydrocarbon-containing product in a weight ratio relative to thepolyaromatic hydrocarbon compounds (containing two or more aromatic ringstructures) of at least 1.5:1.0, or at least 2.0:1.0, or at least2.5:1.0. The relative amounts of mono- and polyaromatic compounds in thehydrocarbon-containing product may be determined by flame ionizationdetection-two dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC-FID).

The hydrocarbon-containing product of the process of the presentinvention may contain olefins, where a significant amount of the olefinsmay be alpha olefins having a terminal double bond. Olefin content inthe hydrocarbon-containing product may be determined in accordance withASTM Method D6730. The hydrocarbon-containing product may contain, pergram, at least 0.05 grams, or at least 0.1 grams of alpha olefins. Thealpha olefins in the hydrocarbon-containing product may be present inthe hydrocarbon-containing product relative to olefins having aninternal double bond in a weight ratio of alpha olefins to internaldouble bond olefins is at least 0.7:1.0, or at least 0.9:1.0, or atleast 1.0:1.0.

The hydrocarbon-containing product of the process of the presentinvention may contain paraffins, where a significant amount of theparaffins may be n-paraffins. Paraffin content in thehydrocarbon-containing product may be determined in accordance with ASTMMethod D6730. The n-paraffins in the hydrocarbon-containing product maybe present relative to isoparaffins in a weight ratio of isoparaffins ton-paraffins of at most 1.4:1.0, or at most 1.0:1.0.

To facilitate a better understanding of the present invention, thefollowing examples of certain aspects of some embodiments are given. Inno way should the following examples be read to limit, or define, thescope of the invention.

EXAMPLE 1

A catalyst for use in a process of the present invention containingcopper, molybdenum, and sulfur was produced, where at least a portion ofthe catalyst had a structure according to Formula (XVII).

1798 grams of CuSO₄ was mixed with sufficient deionized water to make a4 liter solution. Separately, 260 grams of (NH₄)₂MoS₄ was mixed in 2liters of deionized water to form an aqueous solution. 212 grams ofNa₂CO₃ in 600 ml deionized water was added to the solution of(NH₄)₂MoS₄, and the mixture was heated to 75° C. for 1 hour to form asolution containing Na₂MoS₄. The solution containing Na₂MoS₄ and thesolution containing the CuSO₄ were charged separately to opposite sidesof a 22 liter vessel containing 7.6 liters of deionized water using a2″×0.02″ injection nozzle for the copper solution and a 1/16″ injectionnozzle for the molybdenum solution. The solutions were charged to theaqueous mixture under nitrogen at a temperature of 26° C. over a periodof 2 hours while the mixture was being stirred by mechanical stirring.After completion of addition of the solutions to the aqueous mixture,the mixture was stirred for an additional twelve hours under nitrogenwhile maintaining the temperature of the mixture at 26° C. The mixturewas then centrifuged at 8000G to separate the solid catalyst from thesolution. The solid catalyst was washed with deionized water until theconductivity measurements of the wash were under 100 μS at 32° C. Theresulting solid catalyst material was heated to 55° C. for 3 days undervacuum. 303.8 g of the solid catalyst was recovered. Semi-quantitativeXRF indicated that the catalyst contained, on a mass % basis, 45.6% Cu,19.3% Mo, 31.7% S, and 0.131 Cl. The catalyst was particulate having aparticle size distribution with a mean particle size of 450 angstroms asdetermined by laser diffractometry using a Mastersizer S made by MalvernInstruments. The BET surface area of the catalyst was measured and foundto be 130 m²/g. The pore volume of the catalyst was found to be 0.273cm³/g and the mean pore diameter was found to be 84 angstroms. X-raydiffraction and Raman IR spectroscopy confirmed that at least a portionof the catalyst had a structure in which copper, sulfur, and molybdenumwere arranged as shown in Formula (XVII) above.

EXAMPLE 2

A covellite (CuS) catalyst for use in a comparative process wasprepared. 1694.6 grams of CuSO₄ stock solution in 6.6 liters ofdeionized water was added via a 2′×0.02° nozzle to a near boilingsolution of 312.2 grams of sodium sulfide in 7.6 liters of water over aperiod of 2 hours. The solution was mixed thoroughly during theaddition. The mixture was then allowed to cool and settle. The covellitecatalyst was separated from the mixture by centrifugation at 7000G. Theseparated solid catalyst material was washed until the solutionconductivity of the wash water was less than 10 μS at 33° C. The washedsolid catalyst material was dried under vacuum at 60° C. to produce155.4 grams of the covellite catalyst.

EXAMPLE 3

Bitumen from Peace River, Canada was selected as ahydrocarbon-containing feedstock for cracking. The Peace River bitumenwas analyzed to determine its composition. The properties of the PeaceRiver bitumen are set forth in Table 1:

TABLE 1 Property Value Hydrogen (wt. %) 10.1 Carbon (wt. %) 82 Oxygen(wt. %) 0.62 Nitrogen (wt. %) 0.37 Sulfur (wt. %) 6.69 Nickel (wppm) 70Vanadium (wppm) 205 Microcarbon residue (wt. %) 12.5 C5 asphaltenes (wt.%) 10.9 Density (g/ml) 1.01 Viscosity at 38° C. (cSt) 8357 TAN-E (ASTMD664) (mg KOH/g) 3.91 Boiling Range Distribution Initial BoilingPoint-204° C. (400° F.)(wt. %) [Naphtha] 0 204° C. (400° F.)-260° C.(500° F.) (wt. %) [Kerosene] 1 260° C. (500° F.)-343° C. (650° F.) (wt.%) [Diesel] 14 343° C. (650° F.)-538° C. (1000° F.) (wt. %) [VGO]37.5 >538° C. (1000° F.) (wt. %) [Residue] 47.5

Four samples of the Peace River bitumen were cracked in separatecracking treatments: 1) a thermal cracking treatment in which nocatalyst was included while the bitumen was cracked; 2) a catalyticcracking treatment including the covellite (CuS) catalyst prepared inExample 3; 3) a catalytic cracking treatment utilizing a 50:50 weightmixture of the covellite (CuS) catalyst prepared in Example 3 and acommercially available MoS₃ catalyst; and 4) a catalytic crackingtreatment according to the process of the present invention includingthe copper tetrathiomolybdate catalyst prepared in Example 1.

In each cracking treatment, the Peace River bitumen was preheated toapproximately 105° C.-115° C. in a 10 gallon feed drum and circulatedthrough a closed feed loop system from which the bitumen was fed into asemi-continuous stirred tank reactor with vapor effluent capability,where the reactor had an internal volume capacity of 600 cm³. Thereactor was operated in a continuous mode with respect to the bitumenfeedstream and the vapor effluent product, however, the reactor did notinclude a bleed stream to remove accumulating metals and/or carbonaceoussolids. The feed was fed to the reactor as needed to maintain a workingvolume of feed in the reactor of approximately 475 ml, where a Bertholdsingle-point source nuclear level detector located outside the reactorwas used to control the working volume in the reactor. Hydrogen was fedto the reactor at a flow rate of 600 standard liters per hour, and thepressure in the reactor was maintained at 11 MPa (110 bar). Catalyst, ifincluded in the treatment, was added to the reactor at startup in alight paraffin oil. The bitumen feed, hydrogen, and the selectedcatalyst (if any) were mixed together in the reactor by stirring with ashaft-driven impeller, where the mixer shaft was driven at 1200 rpm orhigher. The temperature in the reactor was maintained at 450° C.Vaporized product exited the reactor, where a liquid product wasseparated from the vaporized product by passing the vaporized productthrough a high pressure separator operated at reactor pressure and 80°C. and then through a low pressure separator operated at a pressure of0.17 MPa and 80° C. to separate the liquid product from non-condensablegases. The amount, by weight, of liquid product exiting the reactor wasmeasured on an hourly basis. The reaction was halted when the rate ofliquid product exiting the reactor dropped to 25 grams/hour or less overa period of several hours after initial production of a liquid product,where the drop in the rate of production of liquid product was due toaccumulation of metals and/or heavy carbonaceous material in thereactor.

In one treatment, the bitumen was cracked by a thermal cracking process.In a second treatment, the bitumen was cracked by a catalytic crackingprocess wherein 40 grams of covellite (CuS) produced in Example 3 wasmixed with the bitumen in the reactor during the course of the crackingprocess. In a third treatment, the bitumen was cracked by a catalyticcracking process wherein 20 grams of covellite (CuS) produced in Example3 and 20 grams of commercially available MoS₃ were mixed with thebitumen in the reactor during the course of the cracking process. In afourth treatment, the bitumen was cracked by a catalytic crackingprocess in accordance with the present invention wherein 40 grams ofcopper tetrathiomolybdate as prepared in Example 1 was mixed with thebitumen in the reactor during the course of the cracking process.

As shown in FIG. 3, the bitumen was cracked using the coppertetrathiomolybdate catalyst for a significantly longer period of timethan bitumen cracked thermally, or with a CuS (covellite) catalyst, orwith a combination of a CuS (covellite) catalyst and a MoS₃ catalystbefore the rate of production of liquid product dropped consistentlybelow 25 grams/hour. As a result, far more of the bitumen was cracked toform liquid product utilizing the copper tetrathiomolybdate catalyst inaccordance with the process of the present invention, than was producedusing the CuS catalyst, the CuS/MoS₃ catalyst, or by thermal cracking.Table 2 shows the relative amounts of bitumen and hydrogen provided ineach treatment, the relative amounts of liquid products and solidbyproducts produced by each process, as well as the sulfur content,nitrogen content, and boiling range distribution of the liquid productsfor the copper tetrathiomolybdate catalyst cracking process and thethermal cracking process.

TABLE 2 Covellite Cu—Mo—S₄ (CuS) CuS/MoS₃ Catalyst Catalyst CatalystThermal Treatment Treatment Treatment Treatment 450° C. 450° C. 450° C.450° C. Total feed (kg) 62.7 3.8 37.1 9.0 Total H₂ (kg) 26.1 1.2 9.0 4.2Total liquid product 55.4 2.6 32.3 8.9 (kg) Total solid product 0.5 0.50.5 0.5 (kg) Run time (hours) 526 25 181 85 Boiling point IBP- 15 15 1513 204° C. (wt. %) Boiling point 204° C. 11 12 15 12 up to 260° C. (wt.%) Boiling point 260° C. 29 35 42 37 up to 343° C. (wt. %) Boiling point343° C. 44.5 35 28 35 to 538° C. (wt. %) Boiling point 0 2.5 0 2.5 >538°C. (wt. %) Sulfur (wt. %) 2.2 not not 0.3 measured measured Nitrogen(wt. %) 0.3 not not 3.4 measured measured

As shown in Table 2, bitumen cracked when mixed with hydrogen and ancopper tetrathiomolybdate catalyst in accordance with the process of theinvention provided significantly more liquid product, and liquid productrelative to solid product, than cracking thermally, with a CuS catalyst,or with a CuS/MoS₃ catalyst. The period of time that the bitumen wascracked was very significantly longer with the copper tetrathiomolybdatecatalyst than any of the other cracking processes, being at least doublethe cracking time period of the second best cracking process utilizing aCuS/MoS₃ catalyst.

EXAMPLE 4

A catalyst for use in a process of the present invention containingcopper, tungsten, and sulfur was produced, where at least a portion ofthe catalyst had a structure according to Formula (XVIII).

1199 grams of CuSO₄ was mixed with 7.6 liters of water to form a CuSO₄solution. Separately, 696 grams of (NH₄)₂WS₄ was mixed in 7.6 liters ofdeionized water to form an aqueous (NH₄)₂WS₄ solution. Under nitrogen,the solution containing CuSO₄ was charged into the (NH₄)₂WS₄ solutionusing a 2″×0.02″ injection nozzle. The CuSO₄ solution was charged to theaqueous mixture under nitrogen at ambient temperature (21° C.) over aperiod of 2 hours while the mixture was being stirred by mechanicalstiffing. After completion of addition of the CuSO₄ solution to theaqueous mixture, the mixture was allowed to settle overnight undernitrogen while maintaining the temperature of the mixture at ambient.The mixture was then centrifuged at 7000G to separate the solid catalystfrom the solution. The solid catalyst was washed with deionized wateruntil the conductivity measurements of the wash were under 111 μS at 25°C. The resulting solid catalyst material was heated to 50° C.-55° C. for5 days under vacuum. 329 g of the catalyst was recovered.Semi-quantitative XRF indicated that the catalyst contained, on a mass %basis, 18.6% Cu, 54.0% W, 28.1% S, and <0.1% Ca. The catalyst wasparticulate and had a particle size distribution with a mean particlesize of 1.86 μm as determined by laser diffractometry using aMastersizer S made by Malvern Instruments. The BET surface area of thecatalyst was measured and found to be 0.4 m²/g. The pore volume of thesolid catalyst material was found to be 0.001 cm³/g and the mean porediameter was found to be 108 angstroms. X-ray diffraction and Raman IRspectroscopy confirmed that at least a portion of the catalyst was acopper tetrathiotungstate that had a structure in which copper, sulfur,and tungsten were arranged as shown in Formula (XVIII) above.

A sample of the Peace River bitumen utilized in Example 3 above wascracked according to the process of the present invention using thecopper tetrathiotungstate catalyst. The conditions for the crackingprocess were the same as described above in Example 3, except that thecopper tetrathiotungstate catalyst was used. FIG. 4 shows the liquidproduction rate relative to the time of the cracking process utilizingthe copper tetrathiotungstate catalyst. Table 3 shows the relativeamounts of bitumen and hydrogen provided in the cracking process, therelative amounts of liquid product and solid byproduct produced by theprocess, as well as the sulfur content, nitrogen content, and boilingrange distribution of the liquid product produced in the crackingprocess utilizing the copper tetrathiotungstate catalyst.

TABLE 3 Cu—W—S₄ Catalyst Treatment 450° C. Total feed (kg) 29.9 Total H₂(kg) 8.3 Total liquid product (kg) 25.9 Total solid product (kg) 0.6 Runtime (hours) 168 Boiling point <180° C. 16 (wt. %) Boiling point 180° C.up 14 to 250° C. (wt. %) Boiling point 250° C. up 39 to 360° C. (wt. %)Boiling point 360° C. to 29 538° C. (wt. %) Boiling point >520° C. 1.5(wt. %) Sulfur (wt. %) 2.24 Nitrogen (wt. %) 0.3

EXAMPLE 5

A catalyst containing iron, molybdenum, and sulfur was produced, whereat least a portion of the catalyst was analyzed and found to have iron,molybdenum and sulfur structurally formed according to Formula (XIX):

Initially, iron sulfate heptahydrate was prepared from iron powder andsulfuric acid. 100 g of iron powder was added to 7.6 liters of deionizedwater in a 22 liter round bottomed flask. Separately, 86 ml ofconcentrated H₂SO₄ was mixed with 500 ml of deionized water to prepare asulfuric acid solution. The sulfuric acid solution was added dropwiseover a period of 2 hours to the iron powder slurry while mixing theslurry. The slurry was stirred overnight after completion of addition ofthe sulfuric acid solution to the slurry to form a solution of ironsulfate heptahydrate. After stirring, the solution was heated between30-45° C. for 3 hours and gas evolution was observed. The warm ironsulfate solution was then added over a period of 1 hour to a stirredsolution, under nitrogen, containing 398 g of (NH₄)₂MoS₄ in 7.6 litersof deionized water. The iron sulfate solution was added to the(NH₄)₂MoS₄ solution by pumping the iron sulfate solution through a2.75″×0.020″ outer diameter injector nozzle immersed in the (NH₄)₂MoS₄solution. After addition of the iron sulfate solution to the (NH₄)₂MoS₄solution was completed, the mixture was stirred under nitrogen atambient temperature (28° C.) for a period of 2 hours. The mixture wasthen allowed to settle overnight. The solids were then separated fromthe mixture using a continuous centrifuge. The separated solids werewashed with deionized water, then dried by azeotropic distillation. 526grams of solid catalyst was recovered. Semi-quantitative fluorometry(XRF) indicated that the catalyst contained, on a mass % basis, 17.6%Fe, 37.8% Mo, 44.5% S, and 0.04% Ni. The catalyst material wasparticulate and had a particle size distribution with a mean particlesize of 213 μm as determined by laser diffractometry using a MastersizerS made by Malvern Instruments. The BET surface area of the catalyst wasmeasured and found to be 301 m²/g. The pore volume of the catalyst wasfound to be 0.311 cm³/g and the mean pore diameter was found to be from20 to 150 angstroms. X-ray diffraction and Raman IR spectroscopyconfirmed that at least a portion of the catalyst had an irontetrathiomolybdate structure in which iron, sulfur, and molybdenum werearranged as shown in Formula (XIX) above.

EXAMPLE 6

Three samples of the Peace River bitumen were cracked in separatecracking treatments: 1) a thermal cracking treatment in which nocatalyst was included while the bitumen was cracked; 2) a catalyticcracking treatment including a pyrite (FeS₂) catalyst; and 3) acatalytic cracking treatment according to the process of the presentinvention including the iron tetrathiomolybdate catalyst prepared inExample 5. The cracking treatments were performed in accordance with theprocess as set forth in Example 3, except utilizing the irontetrathiomolybdate or pyrite catalysts in place of the copper catalysts.

In one treatment, the bitumen was cracked by a thermal cracking process.In a second treatment, the bitumen was cracked by a catalytic crackingprocess wherein 40 grams of pyrite (FeS₂) was mixed with the bitumen inthe reactor during the course of the cracking process. In a thirdtreatment, the bitumen was cracked by a catalytic cracking process inaccordance with the present invention wherein 40.12 grams of irontetrathiomolybdate as prepared in Example 5 was mixed with the bitumenin the reactor during the course of the cracking process.

As shown in FIG. 5, the bitumen was cracked using the irontetrathiomolybdate catalyst for a significantly longer period of timethan bitumen cracked thermally before the rate of production of liquidproduct dropped consistently below 25 grams/hour. No data is recorded inFIG. 5 for the cracking treatment utilizing the pyrite catalyst sincethe rate of production of liquid product dropped below 25 grams/hournearly within a day when pyrite was used as a catalyst due to excessivesolids accumulation in the reactor.

As a result, far more of the bitumen was cracked to form liquid productutilizing the iron tetrathiomolybdate catalyst in accordance with theprocess of the present invention than was produced by cracking thebitumen using the pyrite catalyst or by thermal cracking. Table 4 showsthe relative amounts of bitumen and hydrogen provided in each treatment,the relative amounts of liquid product and solid byproduct produced byeach process, as well as the sulfur content, nitrogen content, andboiling range distribution of the liquid products for the crackingtreatments.

TABLE 4 Fe—Mo—S₄ Pyrite (FeS₂) Catalyst Catalyst Thermal TreatmentTreatment Treatment 450° C. 450° C. 450° C. Total feed (kg) 56.1 5.0 9.0Total H₂ (kg) 32.1 1.3 4.2 Total liquid product (kg) 54.1 4.0 8.9 Totalsolid product (kg) 0.5 not measured 0.5 Run time (hours) 648 27 85Boiling point <180° C. 10 not measured 13 (wt. %) Boiling point 180° C.up 10 not measured 12 to 250° C. (wt. %) Boiling point 250° C. up 38 notmeasured 37 to 360° C. (wt. %) Boiling point 360° C. to 40 not measured35 538° C. (wt. %) Boiling point >538° C. 1.5 not measured 2.5 (wt. %)Sulfur (wt. %) 2.9 not measured 0.3 Nitrogen (wt. %) 0.3 not measured3.4

As shown in Table 4, bitumen cracked when mixed with hydrogen and aniron tetrathiomolybdate catalyst in accordance with the process of theinvention provided significantly more liquid product than thermalcracking and cracking with an FeS₂ catalyst. Although not shown, moreliquid product relative to solid product is also produced when irontetrathiomolybdate is utilized as the catalyst relative to when pyritewas used as the catalyst since substantially less liquid product wasproduced when utilizing pyrite because the reaction was stopped due to abuild-up of solid material in the reactor. Also as shown in Table 4,significantly less hydrocarbons having a boiling point of 538° C. orgreater were present in the liquid product produced utilizing the irontetrathiomolybdate catalyst relative to the thermally cracked liquidproduct. The liquid product produced by cracking the bitumen in thepresence of the iron tetrathiomolybdate catalyst according to theprocess of the invention reduced the sulfur content relative to thebitumen feed, however, thermal cracking reduced the sulfur content ofthe thermally cracked liquid product significantly more.

EXAMPLE 7

A catalyst for use in a process of the present invention containingnickel, molybdenum, and sulfur was produced, where at least a portion ofthe catalyst had a structure according to Formula (XX).

1429 grams of NiSO₄ was mixed with 9.5 liters of deionized water to forma nickel sulfate solution. Under nitrogen, the nickel sulfate solutionwas injected through a 2.75″×0.020″ outer diameter nozzle into a stirredsolution of 483 grams of (NH₄)₂MoS₄ in 11.4 liters of deionized waterover a period of two hours at ambient temperature (25° C.). The mixturewas stirred under nitrogen for an additional 2 hours after the additionof the nickel sulfate solution to the mixture was complete. Theresulting slurry was allowed to settle for several hours, and then thesolid catalyst material was separated from the mixture by centrifugalseparation. The separated solid catalyst material was subsequentlywashed with water until conductivity measurements of the wash were below300 μS at 28.4° C. The solid catalyst material was then dried byazeotropic distillation with xylenes at above 96° C. 539 g of the solidcatalyst was recovered. Semi-quantitative XRF indicated that thecatalyst contained, on a mass % basis, 19.5% Ni, 31.1% Mo, 32.8% S, andminor elements 0.248% Cl, 0.153% P, and 0.171% Fe, providing a molarratio of Ni:Mo of 0.98:1. The catalyst was particulate having a particlesize distribution with a mean particle size of 203 μm as determined bylaser diffractometry using a Mastersizer S made by Malvern Instruments.The BET surface area of the catalyst was measured and found to be 219m²/g. The pore volume of the catalyst was found to be 0.266 cm³/g andthe mean pore diameter was found to be 49 angstroms. X-ray diffractionand Raman IR spectroscopy confirmed that at least a portion of thecatalyst had a structure in which nickel, sulfur, and molybdenum werearranged as shown in Formula (XX) above.

EXAMPLE 8

Three samples of the Peace River bitumen were cracked in separatecracking treatments: 1) a thermal cracking treatment in which nocatalyst was included while the bitumen was cracked; 2) a catalyticcracking treatment utilizing vaesite (NiS₂) as a catalyst; and 3) acatalytic cracking treatment according to the process of the presentinvention including the nickel tetrathiomolybdate catalyst prepared inExample 7. The cracking treatments were performed in accordance with theprocess as set forth in Example 3, except that the temperature in thereactor was maintained at 430° C. instead of 450° C. and nickeltetrathiomolybdate or vaesite catalysts were utilized in place of thecopper catalysts.

In one treatment, the bitumen was cracked by a thermal cracking process.In a second treatment, the bitumen was cracked by a catalytic crackingprocess wherein 40 grams of vaesite (NiS₂) was mixed with the bitumen inthe reactor at startup and during the course of the cracking process. Ina third treatment, the bitumen was cracked by a catalytic crackingprocess in accordance with the present invention wherein 40 grams ofnickel tetrathiomolybdate as prepared in Example 7 was mixed with thebitumen in the reactor at startup and during the course of the crackingprocess.

As shown in FIG. 6, the bitumen could be cracked using the nickeltetrathiomolybdate catalyst for a significantly longer period of timethan bitumen cracked with a vaesite (NiS₂) catalyst, which was crackedfor a significantly longer period of time than a thermally crackedbitumen using no catalyst. As a result, far more of the bitumen wascracked to form liquid product utilizing the nickel tetrathiomolybdatecatalyst in accordance with the process of the present invention, thanwas produced using the NiS₂ catalyst or by thermal cracking.

Table 5 shows the relative amounts of bitumen and hydrogen provided ineach treatment, the relative amounts of liquid product and solidbyproduct produced by each process, as well as the sulfur content,nitrogen content, and boiling range distribution of the liquid productsfor the nickel tetrathiomolybdate catalyst cracking process, the NiS₂catalyst cracking process, and the thermal cracking process.

TABLE 5 Ni—Mo—S₄ Vaesite (NiS₂) Thermal Catalyst Catalyst TreatmentTreatment Treatment 430° C. 430° C. 430° C. (no catalyst) Total feed(kg) 59.8 41.1 30.4 Total H₂ (kg) 34.7 21.3 17.8 Total liquid product(kg) 53.5 36.3 25.7 Total solid product (kg) 0.45 0.53 0.58 Run time(hours) 700 430 360 Boiling point <180° C. 10 10 10 (wt. %) Boilingpoint 180° C. up 10 11 11 to 250° C. (wt. %) Boiling point 250° C. up 3738 38 to 360° C. (wt. %) Boiling point 360° C. to 42 40.5 40 538° C.(wt. %) Boiling point >538° C. 0.5 0 0.5 (wt. %) Sulfur (wt. %) 2.783.14 3.33 Nitrogen (wt. %) 0.31 0.32 0.31

As shown in Table 5, bitumen cracked when mixed with hydrogen and anickel tetrathiomolybdate catalyst in accordance with the process of theinvention provided significantly more liquid product, and liquid productrelative to solid product, than cracking thermally, or with an NiS₂catalyst. The period of time that the bitumen was cracked was verysignificantly longer with the nickel tetrathiomolybdate catalyst thanany of the other cracking processes.

EXAMPLE 9

A catalyst for use in a process of the present invention containingcobalt, molybdenum, and sulfur was produced, where at least a portion ofthe catalyst had a structure according to Formula (XXI).

A Na₂MoS₄ solution was prepared by adding 120 g of Na₂CO₃ and 260.3 g of(NH₄)₂MoS₄ into 18.9 liters of deionized water at 83° C. with stirring.Under nitrogen, 281.1 g of cobalt sulfate in 1.2 liters of deionizedwater was injected into the stirred Na₂MoS₄ solution via 2.75″×0.020outer diameter injector nozzle over a period of 18 minutes whilemaintaining the temperature at 83° C. The mixture was stirred undernitrogen for a few hours at 83° C., and then was cooled to ambienttemperature and allowed to settle for several hours. Solids were thenseparated from the mixture by centrifugal separation. The separatedsolids were then washed with water until the conductivity measurement ofthe wash water was below 300 μS at 28° C. 305 g of the solid catalystwas recovered. Semi-quantitative XRF indicated that the catalystcontained, on a mass % basis, 20.4% Co, 30.6% Mo, 46.6% S, and minorelements 0.161% Cu, 1.88% Na, <0.1% Ca, Ti, providing a molar ratio ofCo:Mo of 1.08:1. The catalyst was particulate having a trimodal particlesize distribution with a median particle size of 5 μm for the firstmode, 50 μm for the second mode, and 120 μm for the third mode asdetermined by laser diffractometry using a Mastersizer S made by MalvernInstruments. The BET surface area of the catalyst was measured and foundto be 101 m²/g. The pore volume of the catalyst was found to be 0.07cm³/g and the mean pore diameter was found to be 27 angstroms. X-raydiffraction and Raman IR spectroscopy confirmed that at least a portionof the catalyst had a structure in which cobalt, sulfur, and molybdenumwere arranged as shown in Formula (XXI) above.

EXAMPLE 10

Samples of the Peace River bitumen utilized in Example 3 above werecracked at 450° C. according to the process of the present inventionusing the cobalt tetrathiomolybdate catalyst prepared in Example 9 andthermally with no catalyst. The conditions for the cracking processeswere the same as described above in Example 3 except that the cobalttetrathiomolybdate catalyst was utilized in place of the coppercatalyst. FIG. 7 shows the liquid production rate relative to the timeof the cracking process utilizing the cobalt tetrathiomolybdate catalystand using no catalyst (thermal cracking). As shown in FIG. 7, thebitumen was cracked using the cobalt tetrathiomolybdate catalyst for asignificantly longer period of time than a thermally cracked bitumenusing no catalyst.

Table 6 shows the relative amounts of bitumen and hydrogen provided inthe cracking process utilizing the cobalt tetrathiomolybdate catalystand the thermal cracking process, the relative amounts of liquidproducts and solid byproducts produced by the processes, as well as thesulfur content, nitrogen content, and boiling range distribution of theliquid products produced in the cracking processes.

TABLE 6 Co—Mo—S₄ Thermal Catalyst Cracking Treatment 450° C. 450° C. (nocatalyst) Total feed (kg) 30.4 9.0 Total H₂ (kg) 8.6 4.2 Total liquidproduct (kg) 27.3 8.9 Total solid product (kg) 0.61 0.5 Run time (hours)174 85 Boiling point <180° C. 10 13 (wt. %) Boiling point 180° C. up 1012 to 250° C. (wt. %) Boiling point 250° C. up 35 37 to 360° C. (wt. %)Boiling point 360° C. to 43 35 538° C. (wt. %) Boiling point >538° C. 32.5 (wt. %) Sulfur (wt. %) 2.7 0.3 Nitrogen (wt. %) 0.32 3.4

As shown in Table 6, bitumen cracked when mixed with hydrogen and acobalt tetrathiomolybdate catalyst in accordance with the process of theinvention provided significantly more liquid product, and liquid productrelative to solid product, than a thermal cracking process including nocatalyst.

EXAMPLE 11

Processes in accordance with the present invention were conductedincluding different levels of hydrogen sulfide in the hydrocrackingreaction mixture. Six samples of the Peace River bitumen described inExample 3 above were separately hydrocracked by mixing each bitumensample with the catalyst prepared in Example 1, hydrogen, and hydrogensulfide. The bitumen samples, catalyst, hydrogen, and hydrogen sulfidewere mixed at selected temperatures, gas flow rates, hydrogen partialpressures, hydrogen sulfide partial pressures, feed uptake rates, andspace velocities, as set forth in Table 7 below. The total pressure ofeach hydrocracking treatment was maintained at 13.1 MPa, where thehydrogen partial pressure of the treatments ranged from 8.8 MPa to 10.2MPa, and the hydrogen sulfide partial pressure ranged from 2.9 MPa to4.3 MPa. The total gas flow rate of each hydrocracking treatment wasmaintained at 950 standard liters per hour, where the hydrogen flow rateof the treatments ranged from 640-720 standard liters per hour and thehydrogen sulfide flow rate of the treatments ranged from 210-310standard liters per hour. The liquid hourly space velocity of thebitumen feed for hydrocracking depended on the reaction rate, and rangedfrom 0.6 to 0.8 hr⁻¹. A target temperature was selected for eachhydrocracking treatment within the range of 420° C. to 450° C. Theconditions for each hydrocracking treatment of the six samples are shownbelow in Table 7.

In the hydrocracking treatment of each sample, the Peace River bitumenwas preheated to approximately 105° C.-115° C. in a 10 gallon feed drumand circulated through a closed feed loop system from which the bitumenwas fed into a semi-continuous stirred tank reactor with vapor effluentcapability, where the reactor had an internal volume capacity of 1000cm³. The reactor was operated in a continuous mode with respect to thebitumen feedstream and the vapor effluent product, however, the reactordid not include a bleed stream to remove accumulating metals and/orcarbonaceous solids. The bitumen feed of each sample was fed to thereactor as needed to maintain a working volume of feed in the reactor ofapproximately 475 ml, where a Berthold single-point source nuclear leveldetector located outside the reactor was used to control the workingvolume in the reactor. 50 grams of the catalyst was mixed with thehydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and bitumen feed sample in the reactorduring the course of the hydrocracking treatment. The bitumen feedsample, hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and the catalyst were mixed togetherin the reactor by stirring with an Autoclave Engineers MagneDrive®impeller at 1200 rpm. Vaporized product exited the reactor, where aliquid product was separated from the vaporized product by passing thevaporized product through a high pressure separator operated at reactionpressure and 80° C. and then through a low pressure separator operatedat 0.17 MPa and 80° C. to separate the liquid product fromnon-condensable gases. Each hydrocracking treatment was halted when thequantity of solids accumulating in the reactor as a byproduct of thehydrocracking reaction halted the impeller stirring by breaking themagnetic coupling of the internal mixer magnet with the external mixingmagnet.

The hydrocracking conditions and liquid product characteristics for eachsample are shown in Table 7:

TABLE 7 Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Sample 5 Catalyst loaded (g)50 50 50 50 50 Temperature (° C.) 428 426 435 454 454 Total pressure(MPa) 13.1 13.1 13.1 13.1 13.1 H₂ flow rate (SLPH) 952 952 952 952 949H₂ partial pressure (MPa) 9.4 8.9 9.3 8.8 8.8 H₂S partial pressure (MPa)3.7 4.1 3.8 4.3 4.3 Bitumen feed rate (g/h) 250 250 305 400 425 Totalliquid in (kg) 36.4 20.6 30.4 17.2 17.8 Total liquid out (kg) 29.9 17.524.9 14.7 14.1 Liquid recovery (wt. %) 82.1 85.0 82.0 85.2 79.0 Productdensity (g/cm³) 0.9326 0.9268 0.9284 0.9234 0.9235 Product API Gravity(15.6° C.) 20.2 21.2 20.9 21.8 21.7 Product viscosity (cSt)(15.6° C.)24.3 22.1 19.7 10.3 10.4 Product carbon content (wt. %) 84.8 84.8 85.185.0 85.4 Product sulfur content (wt. %) 3.4 3.4 3.2 3.3 3.2 Productnitrogen content (wt. %) 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 Boiling point fractions(wt. %- Simulated Distillation as per ASTM D5307) Initial boilingpoint-204° C. 8.5 9.0 10.5 15.5 16.0 (IBP-400° F.) 204° C.-260° C. (400°F.-500° F.) 10.5 11.0 11.5 14.5 14.5 260° C.-343° C. (500° F.-650° F.)31.0 31.0 29.5 31.0 30.5 343° C.-538° C. (650° F.-1000° F.) 48.5 47.547.0 37.5 38.0 538° C.+ (1000° F.+) 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.0

The liquid products of samples 1 and 2 were combined and the combinedliquid product was then analyzed by GC-GC sulfur chemiluminesence todetermine the carbon number of sulfur-containing hydrocarbons in thecombined liquid product of hydrocarbons having a carbon number from 6 to17 and of hydrocarbons having a carbon number of 18 or higher, and todetermine the type of sulfur-containing hydrocarbons contained in thecombined liquid product. The results are shown in Table 8, wherenon-benzothiophenes include sulfides, thiols, disulfides, thiophenes,arylsulfides, benzonaphthothiophenes, and naphthenicbenzonaphthothiophenes, and where benzothiophenes includebenzothiophene, naphthenic benzothiophenes, di-benzothiophenes, andnaphthenic di-benzothiophenes. Sulfur-containing hydrocarbons for whicha carbon number could not be determined are shown as having anindeterminate carbon number in Table 8.

TABLE 8 Non- % % benzothiophenic benzothiophenic Benzothiophenic ofcompounds in compounds compounds Total total fraction C6-C17S-containing 4554 17213 21767 62.9 79.1 hydrocarbons (wppm S) C18 andgreater S-containing 1425 1382  2807 8.1 hydrocarbons (wppm S)Indetermine C-number 3835 6194 10029 29.0 S-containing hydrocarbons(wppm S)

As shown in Table 8, the hydrocracking treatment provided a hydrocarboncomposition in which a significant portion of the sulfur in thecomposition was contained in relatively low carbon number hydrocarbons.These low carbon number heteroatomic hydrocarbons generally have a lowmolecular weight relative to the sulfur containing hydrocarbons having acarbon number of 18 or greater, and generally are contained in thenaphtha and distillate boiling fractions, not the high molecular weight,high boiling residue and asphaltene fractions in which sulfur-containinghydrocarbons are more refractory.

The combined liquid product was then analyzed by flame ionizationdetection-two dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC-FID) to determinethe monoaromatic, diaromatic, and polyaromatic hydrocarbon (3 or morearomatic rings) content of the combined liquid product. Mono-aromaticcompounds included mono-aromatics and naphthenic mono-aromatics,di-aromatic compounds included di-aromatics and naphthenic di-aromatics,and polyaromatics included polyaromatic compounds and naphthenicpolyaromatic compounds. The results are shown in Table 9:

TABLE 9 Combined Mono- Di- mono- Poly- Total aromatic aromatic aromaticand aromatic Aromatic com- com- di-aromatic com- com- pounds poundscompounds pounds pounds wt. % of 19.1 23.2 42.3 22.2 64.5 composition

As shown in Table 9, the hydrocracking treatment provided a hydrocarboncomposition that had a significant quantity of mono-aromatic anddi-aromatic hydrocarbon compounds relative to the polyaromatichydrocarbon compounds, where the weight ratio of the combinedmono-aromatic and di-aromatic hydrocarbon compounds relative to thepolyaromatic hydrocarbon compounds was 1.9:1.

EXAMPLE 12

Another catalyst was prepared, where at least a portion of the catalysthad the structure as shown in formula (XVII) above. 781 grams ofammonium tetrathiomolybdate was mixed with 636 grams of Na₂CO₃ in 6liters of water while stirring. The resulting solution was heated to 70°C. and then stirred for three hours to produce a solution of Na₂MoS₄.The Na₂MoS₄ solution was then permitted to cool overnight. A secondsolution was prepared by mixing 1498 grams of CuSO₄.5H₂O in 6 liters ofwater. The CuSO₄ solution was then added to the Na₂MoS₄ solution viapneumatic pump through a 0.02″×0.5″ nozzle while stiffing the mixture atambient temperature. The mixture was stirred for two hours, and then theresulting solids were separated by centrifuge. 880 grams of solidparticulate catalyst was recovered. The solids were then washed withwater until the effluent from the wash had a conductivity of 488 μS at33° C. The catalyst solids were particulate and had a particle sizedistribution with a mean particle size of 8.5 μm as determined by laserdiffractometry using a Mastersizer S (Malvern Instruments). The BETsurface area of the catalyst solids was measured to be 29.3 m²/g.Semi-quantitative XRF of the catalyst solids indicated that the catalystsolids contained 45.867 mass % Cu, 18.587 mass % Mo, and 27.527 mass %S. X-ray diffraction and Raman IR spectroscopy confirmed that at least aportion of the catalyst had a structure in which copper, molybdenum, andsulfur were arranged as shown in formula (XVII) above.

EXAMPLE 13

Peace River bitumen having the composition shown in Table 1 above washydrocracked in a process in accordance with the present invention usingdifferent hydrogen sulfide levels to determine the effect of hydrogensulfide on the rate of the hydrocracking reaction. Hydrogen sulfide wasprovided at 5 mol %, 11.4 mol %, and 20.1 mol % of the gas fed to thereactor. Hydrogen was provided at 70 mol % of the gas fed to the reactorwhen hydrogen sulfide was provided at 5 mol % (mole ratio of 1:14,hydrogen sulfide:hydrogen); 68.6 mol % of the gas fed to the reactorwhen hydrogen sulfide was provided at 11.4 mol % (mole ratio of 1:6,hydrogen sulfide:hydrogen); and 69.9 mol % of the gas fed to the reactorwhen hydrogen sulfide was provided at 20.1 mol % (mole ratio of 1:3.5,hydrogen sulfide:hydrogen). A control hydrocracking reaction was alsorun at 0 mol % hydrogen sulfide and 70.2 mol % hydrogen. Nitrogen wasprovided as an inert gas in the gas fed to the reactor to maintain thetotal pressure of the reaction at 8.3 MPa, where nitrogen was providedas 25 mol % of the gas fed to the reactor when hydrogen sulfide wasprovided at 5 mol % of the gas fed to the reactor; as 20 mol % of thegas fed to the reactor when hydrogen sulfide was provided at 11.4 mol %of the gas fed to the reactor; as 10 mol % of the gas fed to the reactorwhen hydrogen sulfide was provided at 20.1 mol % of the gas fed to thereactor; and as 29.8 mol % of the gas fed to the reactor in the control.Hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide provided 75% of the total pressure in thereaction when hydrogen sulfide was provided at 5 mol % of the gas fed tothe reactor, and provided 80% of the total pressure when hydrogensulfide was provided at 11.4 mol % and 20.1 mol % of the gas fed to thereactor.

Four samples of the bitumen were hydrocracked, one each at the abovespecified hydrogen sulfide: hydrogen: nitrogen levels. The hydrocrackingconditions were the same as specified above for Example 11 except thatthe catalyst that was used was the catalyst prepared in Example 12, thetotal pressure was maintained at 8.3 MPa, hydrogen sulfide and hydrogenpartial pressures depended on the amount of each provided to each of thehydrocracking reactions as set forth above, the temperature was 430° C.for each of the hydrocracking reactions, the gas flow rate wasmaintained at 900 standard liters per hour, and the working volume offeed in the reactor was maintained at 500 ml.

The rate of the production of hydrocracked product was measured for eachof the samples. The results are shown in Table 10:

TABLE 10 Time [hrs] 5 10 15 20 [mol %] H₂S Rate [Kg/h · m³]  0.0% 370335 300 265  5.0% 403 370 338 305 11.4% 426 394 361 329 20.1% 448 418387 357A graphic depiction of the rate of production of product in each of thehydrocracking reactions is shown in FIG. 8.

As shown in Table 10 and FIG. 8, the rate of production of product inthe hydrocracking reactions at constant temperature and total pressureincreases as the quantity of hydrogen sulfide in the reaction mixtureincreases. It is believed that the rate will increase further at eachhydrogen sulfide partial pressure, respectively, as temperature andtotal pressure are increased, for example, to 450° C. and 13.8 MPa. Therate of the reaction is maintained above 350 kg/h-m³ for a sustainedperiod when hydrogen sulfide is present in an amount relative tohydrogen of at least 1:14 where the hydrogen sulfide and hydrogenprovide at least 60% of the total pressure in the reaction, and issustained for a longer period as the hydrogen sulfide levels increase.

EXAMPLE 14

Another catalyst was prepared for use in a hydrocracking process of thepresent invention to determine the relative amount of liquid hydrocarbonproduct, coke, non-condensable gas, and hold-up produced by the process.A solution was prepared by mixing 780 grams of ammoniumtetrathiomolybdate and 636 grams of Na₂CO₃ in 13.5 liters of deionizedwater. The solution was heated to 85° C. to generate Na₂MoS₄. A separatesolution of CuSO₄ was prepared by mixing 2994 grams of CuSO₄ in 5 litersof water. The CuSO₄ solution was heated to 85° C. and added to theNa₂MoS₄ solution through a 0.0625″ spray nozzle. The mixed solution wasstirred at 85° C. for 2 hours and then at room temperature overnight.Solid catalyst material was then separated from the solution bycentrifuge. The solid catalyst material was washed until the washeffluent had a pH of 7 and conductivity of 488 μS at 33° C. The solidcatalyst material was then dried. 548 grams of glossy black catalystsolids were recovered.

The catalyst solids were particulate and had a particle sizedistribution with a mean particle size of between 400 and 500 nm asdetermined by laser diffractometry using a Mastersizer S. The BETsurface area of the catalyst was measured to be 58 m²/g.Semi-quantitative XRF indicated that the solid catalyst materialcontained 37.633 mass % Cu, 22.231 mass % Mo, 27.734 mass % S, and 0.503mass % Na. X-ray diffraction and Raman IR spectroscopy confirmed that atleast a portion of the catalyst solids had a structure in which copper,molybdenum, and sulfur were arranged as shown in formula (XVII) above.The catalyst solids had an acidity as measured by ammonia chemisorptionof 70 μmol ammonia per gram of catalyst solids.

EXAMPLE 15

Peace River bitumen having the composition shown in Table 1 above washydrocracked in a process in accordance with the present invention usinggas containing 36.5 mol % hydrogen sulfide and 63.7 mol % hydrogen (moleratio 1:1.75, hydrogen sulfide:hydrogen) to determine the relativeamounts of liquid hydrocarbon product, non-compressible gas, and cokeproduced by the hydrocracking reaction. Hydrocracking conditions werethe same as set forth in Example 11 except that the catalyst that wasused in the process was the catalyst prepared in Example 14, thehydrogen sulfide partial pressure was 4.78 MPa, the temperature was 420°C., the gas flow rate was maintained at 948 standard liters per hour,the working volume of feed in the reactor was maintained at 500 ml, andthe pressure in the low temperature separator was maintained at 1.38 MPato improve the capture yield of condensable vapors.

The yield of liquid hydrocarbon product, non-condensable gas—includinghydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and hydrocarbons having a carbon number offrom 1 to 6, coke, and hold-up were measured and compared with thecarbon content of the feed provided. Hold-up included residual highmolecular weight hydrocarbons that did not vaporize as product that weresoluble in toluene (so not, by definition, coke) and metals. The resultsare shown in FIG. 9. 93.5% of the carbon content of the materialproduced by the hydrocracking reaction was captured as liquidhydrocarbon product; 0.1% of the carbon content was produced as coke,1.2% of the carbon content was produced as non-condensable gas, and 3.1%of the carbon content was produced as hold-up, where 97.8% of the carboncontent of the bitumen feed was captured in the combined liquidhydrocarbon product, non-condensable gas, coke, and hold-up.

EXAMPLE 16

A zinc tetrathiomolybdate catalyst for use in a process of the presentinvention containing zinc, molybdenum, and sulfur was produced. 424grams of Na₂CO₃ were added mixed in 0.5 liters of deionized water toform an aqueous Na₂CO₃ solution. The Na₂CO₃ solution was added dropwiseto an aqueous solution containing 520.6 grams of (NH₄)₂MoS₄ dispersed in1 liter of deionized water while stirring. The solutions were mixed at53° C. After the addition of the Na₂CO₃ solution was complete, the 3liters of deionized water was added to the aqueous mixture. Separately,1076.8 grams of ZnSO₄H₂O was mixed in 3 liters of deionized water andheated to 74° C. In a 22 liter flask separate from the Na₂CO₃ solutionand the ZnSO₄ solution, 8 liters of deionized water was heated to 89° C.Under a nitrogen atmosphere, the Na₂CO₃ solution and the ZnSO₄ solutionwere added simultaneously to the flask containing the heated water bypumping the solutions through separate 2″×0.02″ nozzles at 40 ml/minute,where the aqueous mixture was stirred during the addition of thesolutions. The aqueous mixture was stirred for an additional 1 hour at80° C. after each of the solutions had been completely added to theaqueous mixture. A solid catalyst material was separated from theresulting slurry by centrifuge. The solids were collected and washedwith water until the wash effluent had a conductivity of 1.4 mS at 26.5°C. The solid catalyst material was then dried at 55° C. under vacuum.851.9 grams of catalyst solids were recovered. Semi-quantitative XRFanalysis showed that the solid catalyst material contained, on a massbasis, 44.636% Zn, 14.458% Mo, 21.311% S, 7.953 Na, and less than 0.005%Al, Si, Fe, and Ni.

The catalyst solids were particulate having a monomodal particle sizedistribution between 0.05 μm and 878 μm with the highest particle volumedistribution centered at 150 μm as determined by laser diffractometryusing a Mastersizer S (Malvern Instruments). The BET surface area of thecatalyst was analyzed and measured to be 32.5 m²/g and the total porevolume of the catalyst was measured to be 0.061 cm³/g. The catalystsolids had a pore size distribution where the median pore size diameterwas determined to be 75 angstroms.

EXAMPLE 17

A sample of the Peace River bitumen utilized in Example 3 above wascracked according to the process described above in Example 3, exceptthat the zinc tetrathiomolybdate catalyst produced in Example 16 wasused and the reactor had a volume capacity of 1000 cm³ where the workingvolume of was maintained at 500 ml. The total product produced from thehydrocracking of the bitumen was analyzed to determine the yield ofliquid hydrocarbon product relative to coke and non-condensable gas andto determine its boiling point distribution, sulfur content, hydrogencontent, and carbon content. The results are set forth in Table 11:

TABLE 11 Hydrocracked Property product Hydrogen (wt. %) 11.4 Carbon (wt.%) 85.7 Sulfur (wt. %) 2.2 Viscosity at 38° C. (cSt) 10 Boiling RangeDistribution Initial Boiling Point-204° C. (400° F.)(wt. %) [Naphtha] 18204° C. (400° F.)-343° C. (650° F.) (wt. %) [Distillates] 41 343° C.(650° F.)-538° C. (1000° F.) (wt. %) [VGO] 40 >538° C. (1000° F.) (wt.%) [Residue] 0.8 included in recovered liquid product Coke 0Non-condensable gas 4.9

As shown in Table 11, the hydrocracked product comprised large quantityof liquid hydrocarbons relative to coke and gas, where coke wasnegligible, and where greater than 90% of the liquid hydrocarbons have aboiling point below 538° C.

The present invention is well adapted to attain the ends and advantagesmentioned as well as those that are inherent therein. The particularembodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the presentinvention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalentmanners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of theteachings herein. Furthermore, no limitations are intended to thedetails of construction or design herein shown, other than as describedin the claims below. It is therefore evident that the particularillustrative embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified andall such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of thepresent invention. While compositions and methods are described in termsof “comprising,” “containing,” or “including” various components orsteps, the compositions and methods can also “consist essentially of” or“consist of” the various components and steps. Whenever a numericalrange with a lower limit and an upper limit is disclosed, any number andany included range falling within the range is specifically disclosed.In particular, every range of values (of the form, “from a to b,” or,equivalently, “from a-b”) disclosed herein is to be understood to setforth every number and range encompassed within the broader range ofvalues. Whenever a numerical range having a specific lower limit only, aspecific upper limit only, or a specific upper limit and a specificlower limit is disclosed, the range also includes any numerical value“about” the specified lower limit and/or the specified upper limit.Also, the terms in the claims have their plain, ordinary meaning unlessotherwise explicitly and clearly defined by the patentee. Moreover, theindefinite articles “a” or “an”, as used in the claims, are definedherein to mean one or more than one of the element that it introduces.

We claim:
 1. A process for cracking a hydrocarbon-containing feedstock,comprising: mixing, at a temperature selected from 375° C. to 500° C.and a total pressure selected from the range of from 6.9 MPa to 27.5MPa: a) a hydrocarbon-containing feedstock containing at least 20 wt. %hydrocarbons having a boiling point of greater than 538° C. asdetermined in accordance with ASTM Method D5307; b) hydrogen; and c) acatalyst prepared by mixing a first salt and a second salt in an aqueousmixture under anaerobic conditions, where, during mixing the first andsecond salts in the aqueous mixture, the aqueous mixture is maintainedat a temperature of from 15° C. to 150° C., and wherein the first saltcomprises a cationic component in any non-zero oxidation state selectedfrom the group consisting of Cu, Fe, Ag, Co, Mn, Ru, La, Ce, Pr, Sm, Eu,Yb, Lu, Dy, Ni, Zn, Bi, Sn, Pb, and Sb, and wherein the second saltcomprises an anionic component selected from the group consisting ofMoS₄ ²⁻, WS₄ ²⁻, SnS₄ ⁴⁻, and SbS₄ ³⁻, where the first and second saltsare dispersible in the aqueous mixture, and separating a solid from theaqueous mixture to produce a solid material comprised of a plurality ofcationic components from the first salt and a plurality of anioniccomponents from the second salt where at least a portion of the cationiccomponents from the first salt are bonded with at least a portion of theanionic components from the second salt in two or more repeating units,where the catalyst is comprised of the solid material; where thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock, catalyst, and hydrogen form a mixtureupon mixing; and while mixing the mixture at the selected temperatureand selected pressure, separating a vapor comprising ahydrocarbon-containing product from the mixture, where thehydrocarbon-containing product is comprised of one or more hydrocarboncompounds that are liquid at standard temperature and pressure.
 2. Theprocess of claim 1 further comprising the step of, apart from themixture, condensing at least a portion of the vapor separated from themixture to produce a liquid hydrocarbon-containing product separate fromthe mixture.
 3. The process of claim 1 wherein the catalyst is comprisedof a first metal and a second metal where the first metal is selectedfrom the group consisting of Cu, Fe, Ag, Co, Mn, Ru, La, Ce, Pr, Sm, Eu,Yb, Lu, Dy, Ni, Zn, Bi, Sn, Pb, and Sb, where the second metal isdifferent from the first metal and is selected from the group consistingof Mo, W, Sn, and Sb, and wherein the catalyst is comprised of at leastthree linked chain elements, the chain elements comprising a first chainelement including the first metal and having a structure according toformula (I) and a second chain element including the second metal andhaving a structure according to formula (II)

where M¹ is the first metal where M² is the second metal where thecatalyst contains at least one first chain element and at least onesecond chain element, where chain elements in the catalyst are linked bybonds between the two sulfur atoms of a chain element and the metal ofan adjacent chain element.
 4. The process of claim 3 wherein at least aportion of the catalyst has a structure according to formula (VII),formula (XII), or formula (XIII):

where M¹ is the first metal, M² is the second metal, and x is at leasttwo;

where M¹ is the first metal and M² is the second metal,

where M¹ is the first metal and M² is the second metal.
 5. The processof claim 1 wherein the catalyst is comprised of a first metal and asecond metal where the first metal is selected from the group consistingof Cu, Fe, Ag, Co, Mn, Ru, La, Ce, Pr, Sm, Eu, Yb, Lu, Dy, Ni, Zn, Bi,Sn, Pb, and Sb, where the second metal is different from the first metaland is selected from the group consisting of Mo, W, Sn, and Sb, andwherein at least a portion of the material of the catalyst has astructure according to a formula selected from the group consisting offormula (III), formula (IV), formula (V), and formula (VI):

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, and at least oneM is the first metal and at least one M is the second metal,

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal and at least one M is the second metal, and X isselected from the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄),acetylacetonate, acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and NO₃,

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal and at least one M is the second metal, and X isselected from the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄),acetylacetonate, acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and NO₃,

where M is either the first metal or the second metal, at least one M isthe first metal and at least one M is the second metal, and X isselected from the group consisting of SO₄, PO₄, oxalate (C₂O₄),acetylacetonate, acetate, citrate, tartrate, Cl, Br, I, ClO₄, and NO₃.6. The process of claim 3 or claim 5 wherein the atomic ratio of thefirst metal to the second metal in the catalyst is greater than 1:2. 7.The process of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the catalyst is insolid particulate form.
 8. The process of claim 7 wherein the portion ofthe catalyst in solid particulate form has a particle size distributionhaving a median particle size or a mean particle size of from 50 nm to 1μm.
 9. The process of claim 1 wherein the catalyst is a polymer.
 10. Theprocess of claim 1 wherein the catalyst contains less than 0.5 wt. % ofligands other than sulfur-containing ligands.
 11. The process of claim 1wherein the hydrocarbon-containing product separated from the mixturecontains less than 3 wt. % hydrocarbons having a boiling point ofgreater than 538° C. as determined in accordance with ASTM Method D5307,and contains at least 80% of the atomic carbon initially contained inthe hydrocarbon-containing feedstock.
 12. The process of claim 1wherein: a) the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, the catalyst, and thehydrogen are mixed by blending the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, thecatalyst, and the hydrogen in a mixing zone, where the mixing zone ismaintained at a temperature of from 375° C. to 500° C. under a totalpressure of from 6.9 MPa to 27.5 MPa to produce 1) the vapor comprisingthe hydrocarbon-containing product and 2) a hydrocarbon-depleted feedresiduum comprising hydrocarbons that are liquid at the temperature andpressure within the mixing zone; b) separating at least a portion of thevapor comprising the hydrocarbon-containing product from the mixing zonewhile blending the hydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum with the catalystand hydrogen in the mixing zone.
 13. The process of claim 12 wherein thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock, the hydrocarbon-depleted feedresiduum, and the catalyst define a mixture volume, and thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock is provided to be mixed at a rate of atleast 400 kg/hr per m³ of the mixture volume.
 14. The process of claim12 wherein the hydrocarbon-depleted feed residuum produced by blendingthe hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, the catalyst, and the hydrogen inthe mixing zone contains less than 0.03 g of hydrocarbons that areinsoluble in toluene as measured by ASTM Method D4072 per gram ofhydrocarbon-containing feedstock provided to the mixing zone.
 15. Theprocess of claim 1 further comprising mixing hydrogen sulfide with thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock, the hydrogen, and the catalyst at atemperature of from 375° C. to 500° C. and a total pressure of from 6.9MPa to 27.5 MPa, wherein the hydrogen sulfide is provided for mixing ata mole ratio of hydrogen sulfide to hydrogen of at least 0.5:9.5, wherethe hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide are provided for mixing such that thecombined hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide partial pressures provide atleast 60% of the total pressure.
 16. The process of claim 1 wherein thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock contains at least 30 wt. % ofhydrocarbons that are liquid at STP and have a boiling point of lessthan 538° C. as determined in accordance with ASTM Method D2887.
 17. Theprocess of claim 1 wherein the hydrocarbon-containing product separatedfrom the mixture contains at least 40% of the atomic sulfur present inthe hydrocarbon-containing feedstock.
 18. The process of claim 1 whereinthe hydrocarbon-containing product separated from the mixture containsat least 40% of the atomic nitrogen present in thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock.
 19. The process of claim 1 wherein thehydrocarbon-containing feedstock contains at least 30 wt. % hydrocarbonshaving a boiling point of greater than 538° C. as determined inaccordance with ASTM Method D5307.
 20. The process of claim 1 whereinthe catalyst has an acidity as measured by ammonia chemisorption of atmost 200 mmol ammonia per gram of catalyst.
 21. The process of claim 1wherein the hydrocarbon-containing product contains at most 0.001 wt. %vanadium, at most 0.001 wt. % iron, and at most 0.001 wt. % nickel. 22.The process of claim 1 wherein the catalyst has a BET surface area offrom 50 m²/g to 500 m²/g.
 23. The process of claim 1 wherein the vaporseparated from mixture is hydroprocessed by contacting the vapor with ahydroprocessing catalyst and hydrogen at a temperature of from 260° C.to 425° C. and a total pressure of from 3.4 MPa to 27.5 MPa.